On their sophomore album, the ascetic post-punks still work in high-contrast greyscale where icy, doomy guitarscapes are illuminated by flares of frenzied melody. But Adore Life is looser -- even jollier -- than the Londoners' debut, sounding more punk than goth this time out. It's not just the title track's positive thinking or the sweaty intimacy of "Mechanics," it's the way a frantic, muscular rhythm section sends a po-faced anthem like "Evil" into giddy overdrive.