In 2007, Mayday Parade came out with easily its best album, A Lesson in Romantics.

Since then, Mayday Parade has steadily gone the way of All Time Low, selling out to the tween girl crowd. A lot of that had to do with co-lead vocalist Jason Lancaster leaving the band.

Post-Mayday, Lancaster then formed Go Radio in Tallahasee, Fla.

Go Radio is what Mayday Parade should have been, and Go Radio’s second studio album “Close the Distance” irons out nearly all of the kinks present in their first studio attempt.

Lancaster’s voice offers the same gravelly tones that differ him from prepubescent singers like, Alex Gaskarth. The key difference in “Close the Distance,” for Lancaster, is his apparent discovery of vocal range. “Go to Hell,” he goes from his typical manly half-yell to a significantly higher octave. “Close the Distance’s” key strength is also the one pitfall of the album. Lancaster is featured brilliantly, and there is an extensive variety of song styles. All songs contain some kind of sweeping melody, but some, like “Baltimore,” keep the guitar noise to a minimum, telling a more vocal story. It’s a far cry from the days when Mayday Parade just rocked out.

The problem with “Close the Distance” is that it gets caught up in featuring vocals. Very little attention is paid to instrumentation, especially the piano track from “Go to Hell.” The classic piano (as opposed to an electronic keyboard) at the beginning of the track is a unique sound, but is overpowered by Lancaster’s voice. The piano is used through the whole track but is lost in the rock noise.

The same can be said for guitars. Any creative musical talent featured behind Lancaster is drowned out by vocals.

Besides that, the album shines in its lyrics.

“I Won’t Lie” starts the album with poppy background vocals, but quickly goes into a killer chorus:

“If I could take it all back / I could make it all right / You could be the best part of my life / I can tell you all night that I want to be / The man I’m supposed to be / That… / I won’t lie / I’ve waited a million hours just to say that / I will die if you leave me / You are the way my heart beats / And you are the words my tongue speaks / And I will die if you leave me.”

It’s even worth picking up the deluxe version of the album (for about $2 more on iTunes) to own the the acoustic version of “Go to Hell” and a couple of bonus piano-heavy tracks.

Lancaster and company have proved that pop-punk isn’t a genre reserved for guys that steal their sister’s jeans and hair straighteners. “Close the Distance” won’t get press or radio plays Mayday Parade and All Time Low will but it’s worth the  $10 price tag.