After 14 years, a string of three melodramatic concept albums and the cultivation of an increasingly unhinged live show, Cursive have become as contentious as they are pretentious, attracting fans, detractors and bemused passersby in equal measure. And now, three years after the mostly disappointing Happy Hollow, we have Cursive’s new album, Mama I’m Swollen, an effort that will most likely please fans while giving detractors one more reason to dismiss the band as aging emo hacks. In short: it’s not perfect but it’s really good.

Right off the bat, there’s a lot to like about Mama, I’m Swollen. It’s easily the most tight, focused and stripped down Cursive record since The Storms of Early Summer. The wonky electronics and stylistic detours of old-new Cursive are replaced by impressive performances and dynamic songwriting. In fact, dynamic is the best way to describe the record; the dominant musical idea here being the constant push and pull between gentle guitar-pop and atonal, “we used to be into hardcore” wailing.

And, yes, I really do mean guitar-pop. Mama is essentially Cursive making a depressing pop record—one that sounds not unlike frontman Tim Kasher’s other project, the Good Life. While this newfound interest in pop songwriting produces some great singles material, (“Donkeys,” “From the Hips”) it’s also responsible for a few unfortunate forays into melodramatic balladry that really should have been left on the cutting-room floor (“We’re Going to Hell”). The rest of the album veers between those two poles, blending poppy melodrama with discordant punk, garage and the bizarre prog-cabaret thing that Cursive have been into since that one time they decided to get a cello player.

Mama is a clear improvement over Happy Hollow, but it’s also a very strange Cursive record. While many fans may dismiss it as too poppy or quiet, the album has more than it’s fair share of charms. It’s a work that rewards patience and perseverance with those awesome moments when everything pulls together perfectly. It’s the kind of album that will grow on you, which is an unexpected but not unwelcome change for a band that has made a career out of disaster.