While there's certainly no dearth of bands plowing the fields of crunchy, melodic pop-punk, for those of us still hooked on guitar rock there's an undeniable joy in hearing it done well. On their first full-length, One Time Angels hit all the right notes within the confines of a traditional instrumental line-up (guitar/bass/drums plus occasional keyboards), from uplifting sing-along choruses to hints at the darker corners of urban life.

"Soul Rebel Sound" opens Sound of a Restless City with a static-laden burst of feedback, but the album quickly settles into a steady 4/4 of churning guitar hooks that barely let up over the course of the next eleven tracks. Singer and principal songwriter Doug Sangalang possesses an agreeably gruff voice that alternately conveys commitment and longing through lyrics that delve into romance, politics and Living In The City. He has an admirable grasp of the way prosaic details ("the streetlights shine, the city sleeps, the trains go by", "it's cold like a first winter rain") can be employed to ground songs that contain admirably high-falutin' idea(l)s.

"Ready or not you better get set to let go/I'd never try to change your mind/If only we could change these times," pleads Sangalang on "Side Tracked (Only Human)", one of a number of songs that blur the line between the political and personal while trying to make sense of "this mortal coil." Given our ironic age, it's hard to take one of the album's best and most human songs at face value, but "See You in Spring" seems to be a wholly unironic celebration of a pregnancy: "Chance brings cause for decision/The biggest choice in our lives," begins the song with unabashed feeling, "I'm overjoyed with news that you bring." Confusion and contradiction also inhabit the album, but Sangalang is smarter than your average angst-rock poseur; even the bleakest of the songs here strain toward a better world. "Look out with your eyes wide, give the fight a try," Sangalang urges. Once you're caught in Sound of a Restless City's momentum, it's hard to turn such an offer down.