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Young and Divine | Listen to "Shake That Bubble" mp3

Albany pop-punk trio Young and Divine have weathered enough ups and downs during their two-year career to trade war stories with bands three times their age. But JP Clark, 23 (vocals/bass), Jake Mai, 23 (guitar/vocals) and Joe Bortscheller, 22 (drums) channeled every drop of experience into their irresistible, melodically stellar, upbeat self-titled RCA debut, which is set for release in late 2009, and the album is a welcome blast of positive energy and amped-up rock that isn't afraid to get serious, too.

The band got its start when Clark grabbed the drummer he befriended in a college psychology class — the one with the bleached-blond five-inch mohawk, Bortscheller — to play on the songs he'd been working up by ear (he doesn't read music). The group took off quickly as a four-piece, but Clark and Bortscheller soon found themselves in the market for a new bandmember to complete what was now going to be a trio. They found their missing piece in a literal digital haystack: MySpace.

"I was living in Texas where I'm from, and I got a random friend request from these jokers," laughs guitarist Jake Mai. Their energetic, catchy sound had him hooked and Mai quit his job and flew to Albany to join the band, giving Young and Divine their distinctive harmonies in the process.

After just two weeks of rehearsals all three could tell the chemistry was perfect, and the crew bonded over their childhood musical loves. As a kid, Clark ditched his piano lessons when he discovered Blink-182 and Nirvana, Mai learned dirty Adam Sandler songs on the acoustic guitar before finding Third Eye Blind and Aerosmith, and Bortscheller was convinced to pick up the drums for a Metallica cover band that never materialized. All three cite Green Day as a powerful influence.

Young and Divine independently recorded their self-titled debut release with Kenneth Mount and Zack Odom (Cartel) at Atlanta's Tree Sound Studios, where the trio became acquainted with the pleasures of jam-packed 12-hour workdays. But most importantly, their super-charged choruses, powerful guitar lines and ear-grabbing melodies got hammered into the final 13 songs for the album.

With Young and Divine due later this year, the trio are itching to get back on the road and show off some of their new tricks. "I've been practicing an idea for a drum solo now that everybody's going to be involved in," Bortscheller says. "A lot of bands forget they're entertainers," adds Mai. "Our sets are dynamic but we stick to our roots: we're a rock band."