Cage The Elephant’s sophomore album Thank You, Happy Birthday, released Jan. 11, is being highly praised by fans and critics. Although the album fell short of securing the top spot in weekly sales, the band was named MTV’s PUSH Artist of the Week. The album did reach No. 1 as a download on iTunes the day it was released, and is currently sitting pretty in the top 10.

I have to admit, I didn’t really care for Cage The Elephant’s self-titled debut album that came out in 2009. It’s not that I thought it was terrible or anything like that. I just realized that the album wasn’t really something I would listen to on a regular basis. When I first heard “Shake Me Down”, I was surprised to find out it was their song (it actually reminds me a lot of The Pixies). I decided to pick up Thank You, Happy Birthday to see if maybe I could get into them on the second go-round.

The album has different energy from the band’s previous efforts. The band starts off on a high note with “Always Something”. From there, energy bobs and weaves melodically throughout the rest of the album. There is a level of intensity in the foreground, but some songs soften out and sweeten up a bit, which shows versatility. “Rubber Ball” and “Right Before My Eyes” are back-to-back beauties. A little treat is the bonus track, another rendition of “Right Before My Eyes”, that you can find several seconds after “Flow” ends.

“Shake Me Down” is one of the better songs on the album. I especially like the way the tempo teases the listener from beginning to end. “2024” is also another solid track. It is extremely upbeat and lead singer Matt Schultz delivers the lyrics at the heart of the song: “Someday you’ll see that there’s something more/ That’s why you’re so bored.” To be honest, though, there are a few songs that I will probably skip over in the future. For example, “Indy Kidz” felt like an assault on my ears. If there’s a way to describe the song, I would say it’s trying to be too much all at once.

Overall, I think the album is fun and a little crazy. Sure, it goes a little over the top at times, but I think true fans will love that aspect because it’s raw and honest. Yes, it’s a slight departure from their original sound, but bands are supposed to progress and figure out who/what they want to be, or else become stagnant and forgettable. I don’t think anyone will be forgetting these Southern boys anytime soon at the rate they’re going.

The guys are playing several shows at the end of February. To find out if your city is on the list, check out their official Website. Also, you can enter your e-mail address and get a free download of “2024”.