Hit the Light’s Invicta shines on

The broad genre of "pop punk" is mostly associated with warm weather, long car rides to visit college friends, or maybe a music festival like Warped Tour. Everything always seems better with the upbeat, tightly harmonized sounds of bands like New Found Glory, The Starting Line and Something Corporate. Since many of these bands have called it quits, many fans feel that true pop punk is merely a memory.

But the feel-good, air-drumming days didn't stop when many of the late 1990s, early 2000s bands called it quits. Present day pop punk pioneers Hit the Lights pick up where their predecessors left off.

Their 2006 debut album This Is A Stick-up, Don't Make It A Murder was as charmingly poppy and as tongue-in-cheek as its name suggests. Just a year after its release, the band parted with lead singer Colin Ross and replaced him with Nick Thompson. And though Invicta, released Tuesday, is their second full-length  album since Thompson joined, it seems as though Hit The Lights is still doing some soul searching that it was before.

Arena-style drumming, echoing guitars and shouted lyrics open "Invincible," which eventually does break into a heavier, more punk familiar attitude at the chorus. But the manner in which the song opens says a lot about where Invicta inevitably goes, which is a reaching for new heights for the band. With lyrics "We'll never listen to a word they say. It doesn't matter anyway. ‘Cause we make who we are when we're starved to make a mark in this world," the band shows that they want to have an impact on music even outside their genre.

With a more traditional sound, "Gravity" features the hooks, guitar riffs and harmonies that initially charmed HTL fans. Complete with a breakdown on the bridge, rolling drums and just a hint of distortion, "Gravity" is a true gem that grounds the band as pioneers of today's pop-punk world.

Following is "Earthquake," a simple, loud, catchy and fast track. The loud drums and echoing "Oh, oh's" over the verses add a unique touch and a perfect recipe of poppy goodness that takes fans back to the warmer summer days of driving with the windows down and volume up.

Unfortunately, the middle of the album doesn't quite have the same ferocity as the opening tracks. While slower songs aren't necessary, "So Guilty" and "Get To You" feel relatively forced, and do not fit the atmosphere that the beginning of the album creates.

While the occasional slower song or ballad typically completes an album, this kind of song don't fit Invicta. The lyrics of these tracks are sung in lower tones over whistling guitars and electronica effects that feel somewhat midguided on the album. Perhaps an acoustic guitar would have served these songs better, since it seems like the tracks are caught somewhere in between traditional ballads and innovative experiments.

Ending on a relatively high note, "All The Weight" and "Take Control" are true standouts. They're loud, fast and embody everything that Hit The Lights is about.

It's is curious, though, that they chose to wrap the album up with "Oh My God," a hazy frenzy of instruments with lyrics sung almost entirely in a falsetto, which eventually fades into heavily shouted lyrics. While different, it is definitely not fitting as a closer.

Invicta has its high points and low points. And while HTL has mastered the art of pop punk, they've admitted and shown on this album that they're also reaching for something more. It's a step in the right direction for them as a band and for the genre, but could use some honing overall.

Hit The Lights is working toward revolutionizing their sound and stepping up the pop punk game, and Invicta is just the beginning of that journey. It succeeds at providing pop punk goodness, as well as offering hope for the evolution of the band, because it's evolution has just begun.