On their infectious debut album, Oklahoma alterna-pop kids the All-American Rejects take heartwrenching emo songs and soup them up with ebullient new-wave and corporate-rock grooves straight out of the decade they were born in: the ’80s. "Do you know what it feels like/Being alone?" asks frontman Tyson Ritter of an erstwhile crush on "Swing, Swing," the band’s first single and instant rock-radio smash. The lyrics come from Dashboard Confessional and the guitars from Weezer, but the song’s secret weapons — its wistful "Come On Eileen" melodies and whiny synth hooks — hail from a more distant pop past.

Produced by NYC-via-Boston alterna-rock vet Tim O’Heir and originally released on the venerable indie label Doghouse, the disc gives mainstream emo a good name. Ritter breaks hearts from coast to coast with his nervous falsetto, and songwriting partner Nick Wheeler juggles a colorful arsenal of guitars, keyboards, and drum machines with impressive command. The electro-punk standout "Don’t Leave Me" is on par with the Blink-182 and Green Day songs of the same name; the similarly hyperactive "One More Sad Song" substitutes an outpouring of Queen harmonies for tears. Rejects or not, these guys have done their homework.