Run Screaming

No one can accuse Slow Gherkin of cranking out the product: Ten years after the band was formed by a bunch of Santa Cruz high school students, they're just getting around to their third album. But Run Screaming was worth the wait. Drawing deeply on the band's longstanding soul, ska, and classic rock influences, it finds them singing mature lyrics about love, family, and adulthood over well-crafted (but never suffocatingly tight) arrangements that balance nice chord charts with meat-and-potatoes guitar rock. "He's Gotta Go" starts things off with a nice high-energy romantic kissoff before "11:47" brings in the Armed Forces-era Elvis Costello influence. Things get really fun on the Northern soul celebration "Baby Snake" and also on "Pretty (In a Pretty Sort of Way)," during which guitarist and singer James Rickman manages to spoof "My Funny Valentine" while coining the term "pornographable." Rickman could probably hit those notes instead of swiping at them if he wanted to, but the fact that he doesn't even try seems appropriate somehow. If you're starting to suspect that there may be a bit more to life than punk rock but aren't completely convinced yet and want to hedge your bets, start here.