Millencolin

Leaving behind the boring rock’n’roll feel of their last record — the surprisingly dull-for-its-comparative-loudness Home from Home — Kingwood is more in line with the stronger material from their landmark release, Pennybridge Pioneers. Kicking back into full-on pop-punk mode right off the bat with the Bad Religion-styled "Farewell My Hell,” front man Nikola Sarcevic seems to be cribbing notes from Greg Graffin, while the rest of the band replicates the urgency of "No Cigar” with a new set of chords. This sound becomes par for the rest of the record while the group blasts through 11 more tracks of high-octane, catchy punk rock, hitting high points with songs like the crunchy "Biftek Supernova” and the straining "Stalemate.” While the record still holds a few relics of the band’s ill-advised foray into the world of rock, as purveyed by fellow Swedes the Hives, it contains enough back-to-basics punk rock to make for what any fan would consider a great Millencolin album.