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As the days get warmer and the evenings get longer, everyone’s summer soundtracks will start playing. Sparks The Rescue — a four-piece from Maine — may fit in somewhere with its second full-length of bright and bristling pop punk. “Worst Thing I’ve Been Cursed With” isn’t quite a home run, but it’s an adventurous and well-crafted album with more heft than it lets on at first listen.

“Thought You Were the One” has catchy guitar riffs and classic pop-punk “oh wa oh oh ohs” while the band continues to show its stylistic versatility on the acoustic “How to Make a Heart Hollow,” the upbeat “Holiday,” and straight through to the pop anthem “Saturday Skin.” The greatest difference between “The Worst Thing…” and Sparks’ previous album, “Eyes to the Sun,” is the technicality of the songs. Most obvious is the difference in guitar work from the first album to the next: The guitar melodies are far more complex and technical than they were before, and they sound much better.

The downfall of the album is frontman Alex Roy’s vocals, which seem to run together with very similar progression. He doesn’t show much range, and the vocals are almost monotonous throughout the later tracks. This is common for the genre, therefore can be tolerable.

The album will find a place in the hearts of true fans of classic pop punk, but a listener who wants something more may be let down. “The Worst Thing” has a pleasant, upbeat sound that grabs attention, but it may not keep it after a few listens.

Rating: W W W