Cardiology

Fans who have been with Good Charlotte since their 2000 eponymous debut will rejoice in the band’s return to form with 2010’s Cardiology. A refreshing departure from 2007’s Good Morning Revival which had them going for a dance/punk hybrid, their fifth studio album is a more mature outing (well, as mature as punk-pop can get). With song subject-matter orbiting around themes of the heart, these tunes show an emotionally wiser band – ten years following their first album finds the guys with wives and children, so they sing of appreciating every moment in some of these songs, most noticeably in “Standing Ovation.” The 47-second long “Introduction to Cardiology” opens like the overture of a musical before “Let the Music Play” kicks in with ascending guitar riffs and life-inspired lyrics. Things get a little rootsy and nostalgic on “1979,” sounding like the band borrowed Sheryl Crow’s Hammond organ player, but even in these more pensive moments, they let loose those punchy, poppy hooks that make them sound like Good Charlotte.