Relient K - MMHMM

Our first guest contributor! Album review by Aran.

Band: Relient K
Album: MMHMM
Genre: Punk/Rock

Relient K is not your average punk/pop band. Their fourth and most mature album to date, MMHMM, takes some of their famous tongue in cheek attitude and mixes it with serious themes to deliver their best album to date. On the first listen, it may seem like nothing more than a standard punk album. After listening a few times, the album quickly shows its own style. Relient K’s notorious humor is evident in songs like “My Girl’s Ex-Boyfriend”, where a guy thanks a former suitor for breaking up with his girlfriend. Despite such songs that retain some of the band’s former goofiness, MMHMM is a departure from the band’s previous works, introducing to their already impressive sound the versatility of the piano and a more mature approach to their songwriting. The album’s two main singles, “Who I Am Hates Who I’ve Been” and “Be My Escape” are both energetic songs with solid lyrics that will be sure to have you singing along with them in no time. Other songs, such as “I So Hate Consequences” and “More Than Useless” discuss themes of responsibility and redemption rarely heard in punk rock. On the other hand, songs such as “This Week The Trend” and “Maintain Consciousness” retain some of their former silliness, while at the same time acting as a wake up call for teen apathy and laziness. The album ends with the seven minute long “When I Go Down”, a song with constantly shifting moods that correspond to the lyrics, which take the listener on an emotional journey through failure and sadness to hope.

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