Apathetic
Relient K was already flirting with the border between alt-CCM and secular pop-punk on 2003's Two Lefts Don't Make a Right... But Three Do, but they really broke through to the TRL Nation with 2005's MMHMM. The follow-up EP Apathetic is a mid-tour buzz sustainer that includes an acoustic version of the single "Be My Escape" and six other tracks. The mandolin, piano, and brushed percussion on "Escape" prove it's an even better song with the sugary studio production removed, and the Two Lefts standout "Over Thinking" shines in acoustic form, too. "Truth" is pretty generic as pop-punk goes, but "Apathetic Way to Be" finds Relient at their best, since its hook sticks with you and Matthew Thiessen's lyrics are wordier and better than most of his contemporaries. Even if he's singing about his Lord and Savior ("Begging for the proof/Sometimes the hardest thing to believe is the truth"), his nice-guy flutter will make the teenage girls swoon.