It’s a fool’s errand to attempt to write about Divided By Friday’s new EP Prove It without making comparisons to Fall Out Boy; the similarities are so blatant that there’s no getting around it. Vocalist Jose Villanueva is as close to a sonic dead-ringer for Patrick Stump as you’ll find; when he strays, it’s into Brendon Urie or Jamie Woolford territory, and really, aren’t those all just variations on a theme? Whether the roller-coaster chorus of “Lost In Limbo” or the measured vocal restraint of “Closer,” it’s there and it’s obvious, so we might as well take it for the (pleasant) facsimile that it is.

The verisimilitude runs more than singer-deep. Best is opening track “Prove It,” which taps into the scruffy, barre’d chug and single-string, sixteenth-note leads that grounded the best of FOB’s Cork Tree-era tracks (think “Our Lawyer Made Us Change The Name Of This Song” or “XO”) and couples it with a winning vocal melody. And “Growing Up” nicks the Chicago foursome’s signature double-tracked harmonies—as well as a track title—to bright affect.

Strangely, the album’s weakest moments are when it shakes off the formula, like in “Face To Face,” a lame he-said she-said duet that makes the least of Tonight Alive vocalist Jenna McDougall’s talents. Likewise, while guitarist Matt Morgan’s metallic lead on “The Dark Passenger” and Yellowcard-style riffery on “Lost In Limbo” are welcome curveballs, his slightly-snotty secondary vocals there and on “Growing Up” add nothing to the mix. And while Villanueva’s lyrics are perfectly passable, don’t go looking for Pete Wentz-style one liners and bon mots, or anything particularly deep for that matter. (If Fall Out Boy are Bright Eyes, Divided By Friday is decidedly An Angle.)

Ultimately, there’s nothing groundbreaking here, but with Fall Out Boy on the shelf for the moment (and the recently-reunited The Stereo having no studio plans), this is close to new songs as we’re going to get, and they fill the void nicely. Divided By Friday might be mining a well-worn vein, but the rough gems they’re digging up still flash a little sparkle.

★★★☆☆

*This review was composed by Jesse Richman