For me, listening to a Hey Mercedes song is a lot like eating an Blow-pop: I know exactly where I want it to go, and while I want to get there fast, I also want to savor every moment.

The place I want Hey Mercedes to go — the bubble gum center, you might say – usually occurs around three-quarters of the way through a song, when the guitars and voices drop out and Damon Atkinson and Todd Bell lay down the rhythm. In only a few short bars, they build a tension which is released after a suitable interlude, when the guitars crash back in and Robert Nanna looses a howl combining equal parts longing and elation that somehow simultaneously crushes and re-invigorates my spirit. Bells, Every Turn, Eleven To Your Seven — I know it’s coming and it gets me every time.

It gets me again on their newest release, the four-song Vagrant Records release The Weekend EP. This newest recording picks up where there 2001 full-length debut, Everynight Fire Works, left off. While their debut EP (Hey Mercedes, released on Polyvinyl Records) seemed to be a direct refutation of the Braid legacy, Everynight Fire Works seemed more confident and self-assured, as Hey Mercedes grew comfortable in their own skin. With The Weekend, Hey Mercedes has finally solidified as a band worth listening to in its own right, and can finally lay to rest the ghost of Braid.

Featuring one track from Everynight Fire Works, the joyous Our Weekend Starts on Wednesday, and three previously unreleased tracks, The Weekend contains just what you’d expect from Illinois’ favorite punk-pop/emo band - soaring guitars, intensely personal lyrics and boundless energy. In addition, Robert Nanna continues to improve as a frontman. His subtly strong and increasingly mature voice serves as a perfect complement to the familiar foundation of energetic syncopations of drums and bass laid down by Damon Atkinson, Todd Bell, and Mark Dawursk — Michael Shumaker (ex-Sheilbound) has since replaced Dawursk).

While Hey Mercedes has yet to turn into a Top 40 rock band a la Creed — these guys are never going to deliver a mid-tempo rocker – they do seem to have largely escaped the confines of punk’s “harder, faster, louder” ethos. With the songs on The Weekend, Hey Mercedes concentrates less on whipping listeners into punk frenzy and more on building harmonious melodies that the audience can sing along with – witness Wearing A Wire. In fact, the central strength of The Weekend EP is that is feels less overtly aggressive than their earlier work, which only serves to highlight the sheer unfettered joy with which they perform.