Since making their debut in 2011, have usually been pegged as either a pop-punk or power pop band. 2021's , on the other hand, suggests they've had something else in mind recently -- judging from these 11 songs, they want to be a heartland rock band of the 1980s, filling the heads of their fans with passionate anthems delivered with arena-level bombast. "Gates of Heaven" sounds for all the world like the Big Rock Song playing over the end credits in some drama about Rust Belt life in the '80s, "15 Minutes" could pass for a tune you've heard a few hundred times on Classic Rock radio, and "She Knows" splits the sonic difference between and . Exactly how and his bandmates came to dive so deep into something so gloriously unfashionable in the year 2021 is anyone's guess, yet the fact is, these folks sound thoroughly comfortable with their new creative direction. have the chops to pull this off as well as the spirit, and the big interlocking guitars, emotive keyboards, and vocals determined to speak to the last fan in the last row are the work of a band that's inspired and eager to entertain. Producer (who previously worked with ) knows exactly what needs to make this music work, and the audio is big and glossy enough to sound ready to fill North America's hockey arenas without sliding into self-parody. With the exception of , there aren't many acts emerging from the indie underground that are as comfortable embracing this variety of fist-pumping rockist entertainment, and makes it sound as if this is what was really cut out to do. ~ Mark Deming