“It begins at a party and it ends at a funeral. Everything in between is a pretty long story. It’s gotta mean something.” This is how New Jersey emo band Ogbert The Nerd explain their debut album I Don’t Hate You, out today.

That framing suggests there’s a narrative thread running through the album, and I’m betting the process of piecing it together will involve a lot of shouting along with the lyrics. Ogbert play a raw, unhinged, massively catchy form of emo built from shredded throats and gnarly melodic guitar riffs. The song titles include “Malkmus” and “Matthew Renzo vs The Hoboken Parking Authority” and “Rats! It Didn’t Work!” Despite a sober conclusion that leans into the death and despair underpinning the album, most of I Don’t Hate You distills Ogbert’s dark feelings into hooks so intense they can’t help but feel euphoric.

As Brooklyn Vegan pointed out, the album pulls from pillars of the genre ranging from Cap’n Jazz to Taking Back Sunday, but with a fresh, manic urgency that reminds me of Pup. With that in mind, their songs are built for wilding out at a basement show or a crowded club, just going absolutely apeshit while screaming, “What’s your fucking problem?! Why the fuck are you always like this?!” and “I found your copy of The Bell Jar in my closet!”

Lord willing, in 2021 the pandemic will recede to the point that Ogbert can safely play those kinds of shows in support of this album. In the meantime, we have the record itself, and lord is it fun. In a statement to BV, Ogbert called it “very much the embodiment of what we’ve been trying to communicate since we’ve started.” The band continues, “We didn’t want to waste our breath and we don’t want to waste anybody’s time. This is us laying everything we’ve got out for everybody to see. We really hope you all like it.”

I do, guys! Stream I Don’t Hate You below.

I Don’t Hate You is out now on Sun Eater/Rat Brain. Buy it here.