Two Lefts Don't Make a Right… But Three Do. A CD Review.

"The new record is good, but it's not going to cause any major earthquakes in India or anything. However, I will say that this is the best stuff to date from the band that took your lady to the Sadie Hawkins dance."

- Matt Thiessen (Lead singer/guitarist)

The punk-influenced pop-rock band from Canton, Ohio has done it again. With the release of their much-anticipated third album, Relient K has delivered the goods fans have been anxiously awaiting. Their newest CD features 14 songs (16 tracks including a strange dialogue with some "kids on the street" and the usual hidden goodie). Their tongue-in-cheek humor remains intact and with it comes an added maturity, both musically and lyrically.

The album kicks off with "Chap stick, chapped lips, and things like chemistry", which admits that the band struggles with chapped lips, chemistry homework, not losing their cell phones on roller coasters and relationships. "Mood Rings" discusses the ever-changing emotions of teenage girls and recommends that they all wear mood rings "so we'll be tipped off to when they're ticked / cause we'll know just what their thinking".

Throughout "In Love with the 80's" lead singer/guitarist, Matthew Thiessen pokes fun at his brother for falling in love with the era that brought us the beloved Nintendo Entertainment System. The song sounds like something you would expect from the decade it was written about.

With "Gibberish", the band breaks its own all time crazy record. "The verses of 'Gibberish' are actually in a make-believe language that can be decoded only by the genius who created it-that would be me [Thiessen]."

In another relationship focused song, "Hoopes I did it again" (not to be confused with "Oops I did it again, Sorry Britney fans), the band sings about friendship and growing up in a small town.

With all these fun sing-along songs, the band manages to throws a curveball with songs like "I am Understood?" and "Getting into You". Thiessen says, "…they are songs that revolve around the beauty found in a personal relationship with God." Although most of the songs on this album are not the equivalent of a Sunday morning sermon, it is obvious that the guys realize the importance of a relationship with the Lord and have been blessed with a God-given sense of humor.

If you buy the CD (which is strongly recommended), you can take it online and access special "webisodes" from the band entitled "Where the Buffalo and Cell Phones Roam." In these hilarious shorts, fans get to see Relient K perform death-defying stunts like, well; you will have to find that out for yourselves.