Barnes & Noble

While Good Charlotte don't, by any stretch of the imagination, boldly go where no band has gone before, their wry pop-punk has enough energy and winking good humor to win over all but the most jaded listener. Kicking off with the self-aware riff-fest "The Anthem," the band -- centered around the brotherly VJ tandem that hosts MTV's All Things Rock -- take on the usual targets, with mostly good results. "My Old Man" gets his comeuppance on one sneering rave-up, while frontman Joel Everly pins his heart on his sleeve for the "Riot Girl" of his dreams on a swooning post-Undertones lovefest. "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" is appropriately riled up -- a mood that's suited by a pounding rhythm that owes a bit to Iggy's "Lust for Life" -- while "Emotionless" turns things down a notch, adding strings and a swirling atmospheric arrangement that shows the quintet has the potential to outshine the sometimes monochromatic colorings of their straight-ahead punk rock. David Sprague

Entertainment Weekly

Crosscurrents of anger and optimism rip through Charlottešs heady virgin voyage. The young Annapolis, Md. quintet has an astringent punk style with crafty pop underpinnings. David Hiltbrand