Breaking up is hard to do

Mayday Parade’s 2007 effort “A Lesson In Romantics” took pop-punk fandom by storm, but songwriter and primary vocalist Jason Lancaster left the band amidst a flurry of hateful MySpace postings and he said/he said. Since then, fans assumed that follow-ups without Lancaster would be disappointing – but Mayday’s new record proves them wrong. Sort of.

Without Lancaster’s gravelly vocals and distinctive writing style, “Anywhere But Here” is little more than a simplistic and typical pop-punk release. But damn if it’s not one of the catchiest releases of 2009.

The opener “Kids In Love,” title track “Anywhere But Here” and “Center of Attention” feature ridiculously catchy choruses that are meant solely for windows-down, top-of-your-lungs sing-alongs while quality guitar work powers first single “The Silence” and “If You Can’t Live Without Me, Why Aren’t You Dead Yet?”

Though Derek Sanders does fine vocally on his own here, the edge is gone – both lyrically and musically – from Mayday’s sound. But Lancaster’s gone and this is who the band is from now on. And though they could have been great, good will have to do.