If I were to present an award to the album I had the most fun listening to in 2015, Peanut Butter would have to be it. You know, I used to want albums and songs I liked to last as long as possible, but these days, I'm learning to appreciate the beauty of releases that pack a major punch in forty minutes or less. Joanna Gruesome (not to be confused with their polar opposite namesake Joanna Newsom) manage it at just over half that length, offering up one fast, furious noise pop gem after another. It's like an appetizer that's as satisfying as a full meal but light enough to devour without fear of overindulgence. And like peanut butter to the roof of your mouth, these songs will stick to the inside of your head long after you think you've finished with them.

Opener "Last Year" is a crash course in everything the band has to offer: if you really can't sacrifice twenty minutes of your life to listen to the entire album, at least sacrifice three minutes to listen to this song. Against the clashing tones of screeching feedback, singer Alanna charismatically shouts the punky, bratty first verse before being joined by band member Owen in the surprising chorus, a coyly twee boy/girl duet that remains half-obscured by a veil of guitars and percussion. The similarly-structured second-half highlight "Crayon" pits sharply staccato verses against a subtly devastating chorus that culminates in the emphatically-repeated question, "What the hell am I supposed to do?"

"Jamie (Luvver)," "Jerome (Liar)," and "Separate Bedrooms" are even more bite-sized encapsulations of this formula, all clocking in under two minutes. But even as they progress at a breathless clip, the interplay between Alanna's high, airy coo and Owen's atonal whine, which complement each other perfectly, keeps them grounded. As cavity-inducing as the melodies are, they often hide lyrics that are bitingly sarcastic and even brutal: "I know that life would be alright if I hadn't met you/We could spend every single night in separate bedrooms." While it's true that after a certain point, all of the songs tend to begin blending into one another, this isn't necessarily a bad thing when they're so charmingly, infectiously joyous. Besides, it makes the occasional unexpected left turn all the more effective, like the sweetly unassuming synth-led closer that trades the relationship drama for adorable platonic declarations: "Hey, I wanna be your best friend/And hang with you/If you ever need a place to stay/That's fine, that's cool."

Is this a particularly important or groundbreaking album from a musical or cultural standpoint? Probably not. But it is an album that was clearly performed with affection and enthusiasm by a band that makes music together simply because they love to, and, sometimes, that's all you really need to leave a memorable impact - that and a truckload of undeniable melodies, of course.

(Youtube / Amazon / iTunes)