Modern Skirts, a four-piece from Athens, GA, sure know to groove on a sick pop hook. Gramahawk, Modern Skirts’s latest album, drops today. It’s ten tracks of clattering cymbals, soaring synth and lilting lyrics.

The devil really is in the details with Modern Skirts. They manage to produce thrillingly catchy songs that unfold, little by little, with each listen. A detail missed in the first listen will pop out in the next. Based on singer Jay Gulley’s bedroom demos, Gramahawk is pure joy to hear.

Jumping from soulful semi-ballads like”Jane Child” to quick witted argumentative anthems like “Happy 81,” the album is always joyful and irreverent. Modern Skirts apparently began as a piano-pop band, but they have certainly progressed beyond the classification.

What strikes me the very most about this album is the complexity of ideas behind the songs. “Bumper Car” feels like a breakup song, and it’s easy to imagine all of us as actual bumper cars, careening past and into one another. But it’s not literal. It sneaks up on you. Plus, it’s so cathartic to sing along with Gulley’s plaintive cry: “You left me along time, a long long time ago.”

“DUI” is literal- it’s about Gulley’s second DUI. Oopsy. The song is a sprawling narrative, and it’s obvious Gulley is able to see the humor in what was a terrible situation. Talk of lessons learned and pleas for help are interlaced with chattering harmonica and samples of a very happy sounding guy saying “excellent!” Those little additions make “DUI” truly enjoyable.

“Glass of Water” is more bare-boned than the other tracks. Just Gulley’s vocals backed by snapping and guitar chords make the song. The sparseness works. It made me thirsty for more.

“Shipshape” is also worth a mention. It’s so fun, with silly rhymes. The best one: “Flip/Flop/A mariachi band, me removing your top.” So charming!

Modern Skirts are cheeky, cheeky boys. With such great music, they have every right to be.

Modern Skirts are currently touring the East Coast. You can get Gramahawk here.

Bonus: Here’s an old video I found of Modern Skirts singing “Soft Pedals.” I quite like it as well. It’s from All Of Us In Our Night, released last year.