It's been a few years since the No. 1 single "Headstrong," from Trapt [ tickets ]'s 2002 self-titled debut, hit the airwaves, but the Los Gatos, CA-bred quartet hasn't lost one bit of fire during the layoff, as evidenced by their follow up, "Someone in Control."

Trapt dishes a solid, modern-rock vibe--no doubt helped along with sage production from co-producer Don Gilmore (Linkin Park, Pearl Jam)--but the crunch doesn't delve quite into the despair of Papa Roach (for whom they have opened), nor does it have any of the tounge-in-cheek humor of Alien Ant Farm (although there are definite sonic similarities).

Trapt also treads Linkin Park's atmospheric hip-hop on the verses of "Stand Up," but lets the funk sensibilities of drummer Aaron "Monty" Montgomery provide the style instead of a machine, before Simon Ormandy lays metallic waste with a wash of guitars.

Vocalist Chris Brown gives crunchy angst to the leadoff track, "Disconnected (Out Of Touch)"; seething anger to the vicious "Insult after insult" refrain of "Stand Up"; and plaintiveness ("Why do I rush to slow down?") to "Lost Realist." And therein lies Trapt's greatest strength: a vocalist who can roar like Bono and restrain himself like Sting. That's enough to jump out of the radio these days.