There are songs that you hear for the first time that you instantly connect with. Something about the sound, or the lyrics, or just the feeling strikes you, and you're left inspired, or hopeful, or reminiscent, or whatever it may be, because all you know is you're better off having heard that song and felt that feeling. Kid You Not's "Home Again" is an entire album of those songs. Patrick Drury, Justin Pritchard, Ben Bennett, Victor Joudi from St. Augustine, FL are belting out emotion driven punk rock in the vein of bands like Iron Chic and Red City Radio, abandoning abrasive angst in the face of melody, intricate guitar work, and a sort of depressive hopefulness. While not shying away from branching into emo and pop punk, Kid You Not retains all the aggression and rawness you'd expect from a punk rock band.

"Home Again" (released by Deep Elm Records) exemplifies the seamless blending of melodic hardcore and pop punk, resulting the sing-along punk anthems that shake venues to their core. The snarling vocals soar above flowing melodies and hard-hitting drums, while the lead guitar rocks licks bordering on post-hardcore. Each bridge is a blackhole, drawing in every bit of a song's energy and condensing it into nothing, until it explodes into the gang vocal glory mosh-pit dreams are made of. Each song is a testament to Kid You Not's song writing ability and willingness to explore a more emotional side of punk, in both their instrumentation and lyrics. Home Again is littered with sharp lines begging to be tattooed on someone's arm underneath an anchor, a clipper ship, or, more appropriately, a lighthouse.

Kid You Not's "Home Again" definitely struck a chord with me. It's emotional and melodic, while remaing fun, upbeat, and punky as ever. Maybe it's because I'm from Long Island, where bands like Latterman, The Movielife, and even Taking Back Sunday and Brand New were mixing elements of emo and punk long before Iron Chic took the reigns, maybe it's because this is the music I grew up with, maybe because I'm pleasantly surprised four dudes from Florida can make me homesick in a good way - but it's most likely because Kid You Not fucking shred.