The Box Social are an old-fashioned Midwestern rock band in the tradition of Soul Asylum (before they started sucking), the Replacements, the Magnolias and the Hang Ups. (Unlike all of those bands, however, they’re from Madison, not Minneapolis.) This is no nostalgic college rock throwback, however, but a solidly contemporary indie rock album that would fit comfortably along the likes of the Shins, Death Cab for Cutie, and the less bombastic side of the Arcade Fire. Unpretentious three-chord guitar pop tunes topped by Nick Junkunc’s everydude vocals, on first listen the songs on Get Going seem like the kind of solid, journeyman bar band rock that sounds best in the background while downing pounders of cheap American beer, but every so often the subtle hooks and Junkunc’s wry lyrics combine for something more bracing: right about the time the listener starts thinking that the verse melody of “A New Low” sounds awfully familiar, Junkunc casually tosses out the line “We come from Kingman, Arizona,” a direct nod to the classic rock radio staple the Box Social are casually ripping off, the Steve Miller Band’s “Rock ‘n Me.” Baldly plagiarizing a song so thoroughly uncool is its own form of coolness, and it’s a vibe that Get Going has in spades. – Stewart Mason
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