Music like The New Amsterdams

The New Amsterdams is an American band featuring Matthew Pryor of The Get Up Kids. In a certain sense, they represented the acoustic counter-project to The Get up Kids. In contrast to The Get Up Kids, this project features acoustic guitars, the accordion, wind instruments, strings, and mature elements of American folklore. Among the members were also numerous musicians and contributors of The Get Up Kids and other friendly bands.

The New Amsterdams began as a solo project of The Get Up Kids lead singer, Matt Pryor. The band was named after the song New Amsterdam by Elvis Costello from 1980.

In 2000, he released his debut album Never You Mind, which was largely made up of acoustic tracks with sparse accompaniment. However, the album also featured Alex Brahl, Ed Rose, Jake Cardwell & Rob Pope providing extra instrument tracks. It was released at a time when The Get Up Kids were already becoming more and more successful. The first five albums of the New Amsterdams were released on Vagrant Records.