Matthew Scottoline has grafted the best qualities of '90s bubblegum power pop--the pitch-perfect songwriting, the pop-rock sheen, the borderline saccharine vocal melodies--onto something far more raw and emotionally resonant. Don't Look Back is striking in its tenderness and candor--approximately half of the lyrics on the record concern the deterioration of an 11-year relationship Scottoline was in, with the other half being a celebration of new love. The first words Scottolin sings, in opening track "Didn't Have to Try," is essentially a statement of theme: "And we're back at the beginning / Never thought I'd see a face like that again / It attacks when we're not ready / And I won't play it safe this time." This is pop music about actual feelings which means it's automatically better than most pop music. It is challenging and addictive.

There is not a single moment on Don't Look Back that isn't completely drenched in melody and emotion. "Parallel Haunting" evokes the tuneful ache of golden age Evan Dando; "Little Brain" sounds like golden age Evan Dando and golden age Noel Gallagher. Don't Look Back is, in a word, bittersweet, with melodies that feel like a jackhammer on your brain's pleasure center and lyrics that feel like getting slapped in the heart.