Audio Mixer: Tom Lord-Alge.

Recording information: Avatar Studios, New York, NY; J-Rock Studios, New York, NY; NRG, North Hollywood, CA; See Squared Studios, New York, NY; The Village, Los Angeles, CA.

Photographer: Kurt Iswarienko.

The title of Taking Back Sunday's 2009 record, NEW AGAIN, is the veteran band's joke at its own expense, a light dig at its inability to hold onto its guitarists--this time it's Matthew Fazzi replacing Fred Mascherino (off to solo projects). However, the unflappable alternative warriors lose no steps, continuing to dance at the edges of emo, throwing flecks of Echo & the Bunnymen, Talking Heads, and Guns 'N' Roses into the mix. Meanwhile, Adam Lazzara continues to easily spit the act's trademarked lightheartedly neurotic lyrics, wordplay of the "climbed the fence, the fence that you were sitting on" variety.

Like so many of their emo peers, Taking Back Sunday gets increasingly poppy as their career winds on, a reflection of their advancing age as much a shifting musical direction brought on by the departure of guitarist Fred Mascherino. His absence has left vocalist Adam Lazzara firmly in charge, a subtle shift in power referenced in the title of their fourth album, New Again, so dubbed because the group feels like a new, different group now that Matthew Fazzi has filled Mascherino's shoes. And that assessment is correct, at least as far as the band's attitude goes: this is brighter and bigger in every regard, never shying away from arena-filling hooks, an attitude that turns slower numbers like "Where My Mouth Is" into a genuine power ballad without a trace of irony. This large, cavernous sound camouflages the lingering emo elements which largely surface in the angst-mining lyrics, as well as the occasional bellow, and even if this lack of stridency may alienate some longtime followers, this gleaming pop-punk makeover is the band at its most immediate and easy to enjoy. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine