Brooklyn band Stay Inside follow up last year’s debut album ‘Ferried Away’ with ‘Lunger’, a record filled with tales of hope, heartbreak and exploration. Now signed to Tiny Engines, the record dips and dives through different genres with experimental energy.

‘Counting Electric Sheep’ opens with ferocious drumming and riffs, squeals and synths that recall Motion City Soundtrack. Amidst a desire to burn a building down, there’s also a perfectly pitched ‘fuck off’. ‘Wish It Away’ explores the emo revival sound with aplomb, adding a touch of brass to twinkly guitar and a list of big fears. ‘Super Sonic’ is more upbeat but still has sadness in its words: ‘Get your head out of the gutter’.

‘Old Faithful’ is darker and more menacing with stuttering vocals a la La Dispute as the band declare how they’ve been ‘working overtime’ while ‘wishing for a miracle’. ‘Ain’t That a Daisy’ takes you back to the punk-pop sound of the early 2000s with its in-your-face riffs, while ‘See You Next Time, Wild Hogs’ also veers from joy to despair, albeit with a welcome blast of horns: ‘I’m hungover but it seems like no one’s having fun’.

‘(spaghetti night)’ has a touch of Desaparecidos in its sound as they talk about travelling to Ohio: ‘Everything I do is everything it seems’. ‘Runnin” offers a reassurance of ‘I’ve got everything under control’ over scattergun riffs, while ‘Look! A Smoke Signal’ blends mathy hooks with eerie, chanted vocals and ‘A Road is a Red River closes the album in jazzy fashion.

‘Lunger’ is the kind of record that makes you’ll embrace when you Stay Inside and wrap your ears around it.