Along with the late, lamented Alex Chilton, the Junior League have more or less been keeping the power-pop flame alive in New Orleans since 2006, when they planted their flag with their defiantly-titled debut, Catchy. And you can certainly hear every band the Beatles and Beach Boys birthed in the ones and zeroes of their latest album, along with that heavy dose of folk which Chilton’s Big Star grafted on: “Hey Misery” is sort of like Soul Asylum attempting one of the jauntier Sgt. Pepper numbers, while the rainier mood and harmonies of “Samantha Smile” have a decidedly Rembrandts flair. When the mood gets even moodier, as on “Never Talk,” you’d almost assume the Foo Fighters forgot to show up with their distortion.

That might sound like a lukewarm mess, and it is, to an extent: like their earlier albums, the styles on You Should Be Happy don’t quite gel into anything unique, and the generic subject matter—you know, bittersweet obsession, the power-pop standby—doesn’t make the band’s stylistic fingerprint any clearer. There is something new this time out, however: tracks like “Sullen Girl” and “Keep It Home” have a decidedly rootsy, almost country, feel to them. Call it twangle pop. Despite its piano arpeggios, “Charming” could do for some CMT upstart what Billy Joel’s “Shameless” did for Garth Brooks, and it doesn’t hurt that it comes frontloaded with a Ben Folds level of pathos. The League members slip back into their wheelhouse near the end—the closing trilogy is appropriately tinged with regret and chamber-pop strings—but with a little more focus, there’s no reason some future Walter White couldn’t die to one of their hookier ballads. Weirder things have happened.