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Of the 11 tracks on the self-titled debut CD by Knoxville’s Angel and the Love Mongers, five contained the word “love” in the title.

As if that weren’t enough of a clue to the overall theme of the record, there’s the packaging itself — hearts, candles and Cupid. Needless to say, there’s a sugar-coated shine to the pop songs on that first record that make singer Angel Zuniga seem like Tom Jones handing out shots of Love Potion No. 9.

Tonight, however, the band’s second album arrives, courtesy of a CD release show at Preservation Pub in downtown Knoxville. Again, a lot can be gained from examining the artwork of “The Humanist Queen” — a blue-skinned, raven-haired she-devil, gazing slyly toward Angel’s name. Horned, a hint of malice to that smile ... and no mention of love in any of the song titles.

Or even in the songs themselves, for that matter.

Meet Angel and the Love Mongers, v. 2.0 — same dedication to pop-rock craftsmanship but taking a darker path through uncharted territory, at least for the fans. To Zuniga, however, it’s all very familiar terrain.

“The first album is really atypical of me in terms of love and happiness,” Zuniga told The Daily Times this week.

“Since I was a little kid, songwriting and lyrical content for me have always been a form of therapy for my manic, bipolar self at times. They’re a way of feeling emotions and dealing with friends and family and whatever else I’m going through. Music has always been on a level of deep thought and anger and issues.

“On this album, I was going through some things, and writing it allowed me to vent. To me, this album is about living in a post-modern society where most people have no control. Maybe it’s a relationship, or the control structure in place through the powers that be — most people go up against that, and they can’t get done what they’re try to get done, whether it’s personal peace or affluence or whatever.

“This is about trying to get to a goal and venting against what stands in your way,” he added. “It’s about dealing with the corruption of the spirit and staying true to yourself.”
If anything, “The Humanist Queen” rings more genuine than the band’s debut album. Not because the first record lacks something; it’s an accurate portrait of a band in the gestational stage, fresh off of the new friendship of Zuniga and drummer Eric Nowinski. It’s a collection of songs, many of which Zuniga had written years prior, that were put together and recorded quickly. It’s a flat stone skipping across the water, fun to see and hear; “The Humanist Queen” is the murky depth below that rippling surface.

“This was actually a natural progression of seeing what we would sound like writing songs as a band,” Nowinski said. “The first record were songs that Angel had in his portfolio, so to speak, for a while. On this one, we collaborated on more than half the songs — the instrumentation, all sorts of different things. We didn’t want to pigeonhole ourselves or limit ourselves.”

The end result is an album reminiscent of some of the finer work by R.E.M. — shiny, catchy pop hooks, melodic refrains and soaring instrumental work wrapped around melancholy, brooding and occasionally dark lyrics. The two founders’ respective influences are worn on the sleeve — Zuniga’s fondness for ‘80s dance-pop like Depeche Mode and Erasure, and Nowinski’s allegiance to such groups as The Beatles and Queen.

The album kicks off with an ode to “Nikki Hart,” a girl Zuniga wants to have and change but realizes he never will. It’s a gathering of clouds that parts briefly for the title track, a horn-driven, dance-oriented number that erupts into tambourine, chiming guitar and layered harmonies.

On “What Do I Know,” there’s more layered harmony, sunny piano flourishes and a Spandau Ballet-esque backbeat; “Let It Be Done” rolls over the soul like a rain storm washing over the heart; there’s circus-beat rhythms (on “Frankenstein’s Friend”), intimate acoustic offerings (“Tornado Wind”) and slinky, seductive grooves (“Sideways”). It’s an album that’s exquisite in its beauty, and a testament to the production work done by Nowinski and the legendary Mitch Easter, who helped master the final product.

“That experience was just amazing, because I think of Mitch as an iconic figure in the music world,” Nowinski said. “We never finished before 3 o’clock in the morning when we were working on it, and his enthusiasm for the music was infectious. It was a very positive vibe, and he was kind of like a mad scientist in a way. He would want to experiment, to try this or that, and he’d walk up to a room at the top of the studio with something like 40 guitars in it. It was an unbelievable week for me — like rock ‘n’ roll fantasy camp. It was easily one of the most fulfilling musical endeavors I’ve ever taken part in.”

It was also a way to bring in an outside party to give an impartial listen to the work Zuniga and Nowinski had done. Both threw themselves into “The Humanist Queen” full-time, Nowinski even leaving behind a career as an attorney (“Life’s too short to be in a job you don’t enjoy when you can actually be involved in one that’s important to you,” he said) to focus on the band and running his upstart record label, Rock Snob Records.

“Eric and I almost killed each other many times because of the conflict, but that made it truer to what the songs were supposed to be,” Zuniga said. “For one thing, I’ve never really ever songwritten with somebody. I’ve never been one to force a song in terms of sitting down and saying, ‘At this moment/hour I’m going to produce X-amount of lyrics and musical content.’ It builds up in my mind, I have melodies that stick in my head for two weeks, and then I vomit it out.

“Eric had that disciplinarian side. He came in with the attitude of, ‘We’re going to make an album; tell me what you’ve got, and I’ll tell you whether it sucks or we can use it.’ This album is more structured because of that, and yet it still breathes. It was always meant to be.

“Really, it’s just my therapy. But it’s done in a very melodic way.”