The mainstreaming of punk rock might gall the Black Halos, but the Vancouver band seems to live in a different world from the Simple Plans and Good Charlottes out there. Members come and go — original bassist Matt Camirand has since relocated to Black Mountain, and guitarist Rich Jones's bands, Bassknives and the Loyalties, are both worthy of MySpace investigation — but vocalist Billy Hopeless and drummer (and History Music mogul) Rob Zgaljic owe more to campaigners who wear their experience proudly, like Mott the Hoople or original Vancouver punks D.O.A. Joe Keithley starred in the band's 2001 video for “Some Things Never Fall” alongside the Smugglers’ Grant Lawrence, Lee Aaron, and for some inexplicable reason, this reviewer.

In the Halos’ world, there's hardly a call that doesn’t warrant a response, and tracks like “Disbelief” sound like debauched football chants. The Black Halos’ garage and glam leanings are well-known, but “Love and War” reminds the listener of The Jam’s early chest-beating singles. Here, Hopeless sounds like a pre-sainthood Bob Geldof, a crunchy pop treat you may have forgotten enjoying.

Producer Jack Endino (onboard for all four LPs) ensures the appropriate dirty guitars and thumping drums are present, but the band throw in some surprises: a woozy slide guitar on “Migraine,” some Raw Power-friendly piano on “Suck City” — there’s even a dash of ye olde Seattle grunge on “Holes.”

Today's prefab punk threatens to deaden the snap and crackle of punk rock. The Black Halos put both back where they belong, in the grooves of We Are Not Alone.