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ALBUM REVIEW: Relient K

Relient K

The Bird and the Bee Sides | 4 stars out of 5

It seems like Relient K would be a fun band to hang out with in the studio. The group has one of the most noteworthy senses of humor in rock, and it's continually ­evolving into one of the sharpest and most creative bands out there. Wouldn't it be fun to be there to hear the jokes and take in a stroke of genius.

That's the feel you get from The Bird and the Bee Sides, ReK's new between-album EP that's not an EP.

It's closest to a B-sides and rarities collection. But Bee Sides is quite a bit more substantial than most of those packages, with numerous tracks that demonstrate growth from Relient K's last studio effort, 2007's Five Score and Seven Years Ago.

We see most of that growth in the first 13 tracks, known as The Nashville Tennis EP. A lot of that perspective is relational, with songs of devotion such as Curl Up and Die and You'll Always Be My Best Friend, evangelism with I Just Want You to Know and Hope for Every Fallen Man, and justice in The Last, The Lost, The Least. The latter song is written and sung by bassist John Warne as part of this album's experiment of having each band member write and sing a tune. Through its last several ­recordings, Relient K has given us this feeling that the guys we used to picture firing ­spitballs from the back row of the class are ­getting serious about life.

But not too serious.

There's a lot of fun on this disc, including a few minute-long numbers such as a couple of takes on the fellow-band shout-out Five Iron Frenzy Is Either Dead or Dying. Quite a few songs on the ­second half are pulled from ­previous Relient K EPs, and then there are ­offerings like beautiful acoustic versions of Up and Up and Who I Am Hates Who I've Been.

Far from being a collection of toss-offs for fans, The Bird and the Bee Sides could create new followers for Relient K.

Rich CopleY, rcopley@herald-leader.com