You of course have heard of them. You have seen them live, and you can testify that such praise is unquestionably spot on. In fact, you’d probably even go further and say that when it comes to a thrilling, no gimmick, full throttle, rock ‘n’ roll experience, no band delivers on stage quite like Five Eight.

But you also know that as explosive as they are in concert, the band has always been about songs. Great songs, as a matter of fact – the kind of songs that are full of melody and an unchecked desperation that is rock ‘n’ roll at its purest. They’re songs that possess an undeniable appeal that calls for repeated listenings and have lyrics that are earnest, confessional and sung with the sincerest of force and effect.

It was probably these songs that led you to collect all five of their full-length albums and three 7-inch records. And maybe it was on college radio where you first discovered them because it is college stations across America that have been discovering Five Eight over and over, on the strength of their songs alone rather than some major label hype machine. It’s these stations that have positioned the band on their charts, most recently with Five Eight’s album, The Good Nurse (Deep Elm), which climbed to #16 on the CMJ charts.

You may also know Five Eight has weathered every storm the biz has sent their way. They signed to Walter Yetnikoff’s Velvel Records in 1997, and yes, their deal with the former CBS Records chief and music leviathan went south, just as his label did. But that’s something that seems to be par for the course these days. So is the departure of band members, and perhaps so is even a divorce, depression, drugs or a manager’s death. The real story though – the one that separates Five Eight from the rest – is not that they’ve faced the worst; it is that when faced with the worst, they have always survived.

And that is what Five Eight’s new record represents like no other Five Eight album ever before. Survival. After living through what would destroy most bands a hundred times, Five Eight is still standing, and this time they have turned their wounds, their pitfalls, their pains into a full-length set of glorious rock ‘n’ roll. It’s a result that has finally earned the Five Eight name – self-titled and deservedly so.

In fact, band founders Mike Mantione (guitar, vocals, lyrics) and Dan Horowitz (bass) as well as longtime fan turn band drummer Mike Rizzi all agree that this just may be the first real Five Eight album.

“This record is much more a band record than anything we’ve done,” shares Mantione. “No extra instruments that weren’t played by us. No guitar over dubs. Everything recorded live in one room. Four years after the release of The Good Nurse it just feels like the first Five Eight album ever.”

Horowitz agrees: “The album earned the band’s name. We have a sharper focus and, for the first time, we’re taking the responsibility ourselves – putting the album out ourselves and paying everybody ourselves. This is like our new first album.” So you, who have known Five Eight for all these years, can begin anew along with the band. And for those just being introduced to Five Eight, what an introduction it is.

One moment relentless, another stark and beautiful, the 12-song recording, which was mixed by the masterful John Agnello (Dinosaur Jr, The Breeders, Jay Farrar) and produced by Five Eight and Geoff Melkonian (of the Josh Joplin Group), is an engaging yet volcanic amalgam of manic infused melodic rock that flows and explodes from song to song as the band delves into the darker depths of life, death, regrets and relationships. Throughout, Five Eight takes on desperation and gives it hope through soul and song, something Rizzi describes as “personal and heartbreaking, for the most part, but for some reason I want to sing them loud”. Indeed, never before has it been so enjoyable to listen and sing along to someone else’s pain.

On tracks such as “I’m Still Around,” “I Don’t Give a Damn” and “Lousy Decision,” Five Eight matches defiance and disappointment with deft melodies that harken back to the definitive Athens sound, standing firmly on the great side of pop music. “A Man Is A Pent Up Thing” and “Square Peg,” on the other hand, hit with insistent punk rhythms that pace angular guitar textures while “Bad Juices” and “Bad For Us” take a more melancholy approach, yet strike with intensity through impassioned deliveries, smart harmonies and escalating conclusions.

And perhaps the album’s opener, “Criminal,” sums up best the journey taken on Five Eight. Tackling a person’s paralyzing guilt for causing the death of a friend, “Criminal” charges ahead with a propulsive punk rhythmic vibe, and then twists and turns through evocative pop territory as it allures with distinctive countermelodies and builds to a climactic end, with Mantione declaring, “I’m so gone.” But just as the next song begins, he affirms, “I’m still around.” It’s a segue that provides a glimpse to an underlying theme throughout the album, a question Mantione poses as: “What if your world changes so drastically that the pain overwhelms you? What do you do?”

Mantione’s answer: “I play in this band.”

And thankfully he does. For him and for you – a fan all along, who will still be around for many years to come.