Consider the case of Taking Back Sunday, a Long Island group who in a 2002 incarnation were notable for chiming, suburban-boredom-defying his ’n’ his vocals by BFFs Adam Lazzara and guitarist-screamer John Nolan. What separated TBS from the rest of the whine-of-the-month club was their intense bros-before-ho’s aesthetic—having been kicked in the teeth by girls, these guys sought solace in each other. Then, like all great emo couples, the two broke up (something about a girl, natch), and Lazzara regrouped with new wingmen Fred Mascherino and Matt Rubano. Album No. 2, Where You Want to Be, was as bittersweet and nasty as anything directed at an ex-lover—in fact, the new band was punchier than ever. But the sound of revenge can only get you so far.

Luckily for their screaming ’tweener fans, Lazzara’s heart seems to be perpetually set to “broken” on his band’s major-label debut: “I’m an addict for dramatics/I confuse the two for love,” he wails on the irresistibly vindictive “Liar (It Takes One to Know One).” And luckily, Queens of the Stone Age producer Eric Valentine chaperones, adding muscle to the familiar phlegm. Opener “What It Feels Like to Be a Ghost” is proudly discordant and surprisingly chopsy. But when Mascherino yells “Louder now, louder now!” it’s hard to tell what he’s referring to, other than a battleplan for TBS’s reinvention as asskicking rockers—they’re certainly worked-up on shredders like “Up Against (Blackout)” and “Error Operator,” but what about? There are references to stalking (“MakeDamnSure”), betrayal (“Miami”) and bad Steve Martin flicks (“My Blue Heaven”), but without a target for their ire, TBS opt for sheer emo relentlessness, a concept perfected on the straight pop-metal of “Twenty-Twenty Surgery,” replete with Lazzara’s preposterous claim “You’re so sensitive/I am, I am, a machine.” Hello, pot? This is kettle. You’re black.

DOWNLOAD: “MakeDamnSure,” “Twenty-Twenty Surgery”