Phoenix, AZ four-piece Troubled Minds is on a mission to prove that pop-punk has earned the right to sit at the grown-up table. Their debut LP Something Worth Saving marks the band’s first collaboration with Really Rad Records, and it is a tour de force of mature songwriting wrapped in a sugary sweet coating.

Calling to mind the pitch-perfect pop excellence of Cartel’s genre-defying Chroma, Troubled Minds owes as much to the crossover power pop bands of the early aughts as it does to the pop-punk acts with whom they share a common ancestor. Something Worth Saving captures a band fully in their comfort zone, with track after track of finely tuned head nodders that demand repeated listens. Thick, well-crafted riffs interplay with an airtight rhythm section and anthemic vocal melodies to deliver a fresh take on a genre that is in desperate need of reinvention and fresh blood. Why outgrow pop-punk when it’s aging this gracefully?

First pressing on Transparent Seafoam Green (250 copies)