MMHMM

After moving away from their patented pop/punk approach on 2003's Two Lefts Don't Make a Right...But Three Do, spiritual rockers Relient K revert back to their proven formula of yore on MMHMM. Christian punk sounds more like an oxymoron than a subgenre, but frontman/ lyricist Matt Thiessen wins with the subtle, poppy prose ("Live your life for those that you love") heard on "The One I'm Waiting For." Elsewhere, "High of 75" is wryly, albeit overly optimistic and if there's perhaps an abundance of upbeat songcraft, Relient K aren't always shiny, happy people. The best example of this is "Which to Bury; Us or the Hatchet?," where love turns to relation-sh*t and back again in a roaring, cathartic swirl. At times the lads in Relient K come off a bit too mainstream for their own good, but you've got to give them thanks for not going straight for the jugular the way so many other Christian rockers might.