Springtime Is Wartime are back and out to prove just how cool smart music can be. On their newly completed full-length, the three-piece (made up of brothers Josh and Tim Eymann and bandmate Dave Haq) quite literally shreds through 10 tracks worth of prog-y, math-y, kind of progressive rock. But where Springtime differs from your average math-core screamers is in the delivery, and A Bad Year beautifully captures what the band is capable of live. Where the album-opening “Mathmortician” moves from groovy, bass-driven jazz-fusion to eerie guitars and vocals, the album-closing “What the Hell Is Brimstone?” is a rocking dose of tongue-in-cheek, ’50s pop deconstruction. In between it all, tracks like “Art from Scrap” showcase guitar work so intricate and building momentum so slight that the climax feels like an aural punch to the face : in the best way possible, of course. To purchase A Bad Year for Good Men, click here.