Yes, you heard right, Simple Plan is still around. They just recently dropped their newest album, “Taking One for the Team” on February 19.

Credit needs to be given to this band for still hanging around. The pop punk genre is not nearly as popular as it used to be. Today’s pop music and culture is nowhere similar to the time of “I’m Just a Kid” or “Perfect,” both former hits for Simple Plan. Classic early 2000’s songs bring back a lot of nostalgia for kids in their 20s.

It is evident that Simple Plan is taking a leap of faith, or “one for the team,” and bringing life back to the music and their old fan base. Although Simple Plan does put a modern and current spin on a few tracks, they reverted back to their roots for a majority of the album.

“Taking One for the Team” starts out with the track “Opinion Overload.” The song starts out with strong electric guitar and classic pop punk rhythm. It seems to be placed at the beginning of the album to serve as an ode to their previous albums. They are the same band, just at a different point in their careers.

The next song, “Boom!” is slightly slower and changes paces more than Simple Plan usually does.

The band continues to show a softer, possibly more mature, side through the next few tracks. “Kiss Me Like Nobody’s Watching,” “Farewell,” and “Singing in the Rain,” are new styles of songs for Simple Plan. The songs are fun, spirited and really exude the direction Simple Plan has taken.

The band experiments with other artists on the album, creating a more current experience for the listener. Simple Plan surprises fans with collaborations with artists like Nelly, R. City and Juliet Simms.

I Don’t Wanna Go To Bed, the track where Nelly makes his appearance, is a fun and upbeat piece. It resembles current music the most out of the entire album. Specifically, it has a very similar style as Joe Jonas’ band, DNCE. The song is a strong, firm step in the pop music world.

Juliet Simms and Simple Plan really slow it down in the song, “I Dream About You”. The song steps away from the hard guitar and usual upbeat tempo. It shows another softer side of Pierre Bouvier, the band’s lead singer. It’s very easy on the ears and a smooth way to close out the album.

But of course, how could they not incorporate the old Simple Plan that listeners all remember, the songs that made fans even more annoyed with their parents, school and lives in general. To be honest, it wouldn’t be a bad thing to bring a few of those back. The band did just that in the tracks in “Everything Sucks,” “I Refuse,” and “P.S. I Hate You”. The titles speak for themselves.

Thank you, Simple Plan, for taking a risk, but for also taking listenersback to the early 2000’s for a few minutes.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5