I recently read that a Rolling Stone writer began every review with the first line of an album, and so, I will do the same for this self-released, self-titled album by CNU seniors Greg McCracken, Sam Hurd, Nathan Mitchell and Jake Hull. “Welcome back to the center of your prison stay,” McCracken greets in “Bloom,” a fun-fueled pop rock tune, from “The Basement Tapes.”

The prison for McCracken is life’s ups and downs, from the frolicking “Armageddon” to the overly-mushy “I Will Be Your Blanket.”

The name of the game with the Tapes is power pop, oozing with hooks. Sometimes the music really works out, such as the incredible progressive rocker “Voz II&I.” Sometimes, the song gets by with a simple hook, like “Because,” a simple guitar ballad with a short vocal melody.

The album contains three of McCracken’s self-proclaimed “cheesy love songs”: the aforementioned “Because,” “I Will Be Your Blanket” and “Lovely Dove.” They truly are cheesy, but they really aren’t bad songs, even if the lyrics on “Blanket” are incredibly goofy: “when you’re cold and naked / I will be your blanket.”

The album then takes a turn for the darker with dirge-like “WWIII” and “Closed Eyes III.” The former draws an almost political message and turns it into the final break-up with a girlfriend as she tries to “hide [her] life behind [her] hate” and “wash away the evidence.”

It’s a glorious moment on the album, but it almost left me imagining what more impressive production could bring to the sound.

Two particular songs stuck out: “Little Bird” by Hull (a Momentary Prophets favorite) and “Ridges of a Warrior” by Hurd, which fit into the entire picture well, though Hurd’s vocal style is very different from McCracken’s and Hull’s and can be a bit surprising. Hurd sounds like he’s in Fall Out Boy territory.

The variety of sound on the album is impressive for such a fledgling band.

The homely, personal feeling of the album makes for quite a warm, enjoyable listen. I can only hope for the best for these up-and-comers.