On the quartet's sophomore effort, {$Hawk Nelson} continues to refine its {\pop}-{\punk} recipe, bringing in a few unusual influences while still maintaining the balance of sweetness and crunchiness that made their debut so effortlessly enjoyable. Each of the first four tracks on {^Smile, It's the End of the World} is a perfect, by-the-numbers combination of big guitars, tight harmonies, and catchy hooks: {&"The Show"} offers a nod to {\R&B}, but {&"The One Thing I Have Left"} is a straight-up party rocker, while {&"Bring 'Em Out"} is a shamelessly {$Pavlovian} audience-participation number (complete with cowbell!) and {&"Everything You Ever Wanted"} is a power {\ballad} that the {$Click Five} would kill for. Later things get a little more interesting, and a little bit less obvious: {&"Nothing Left to Show"} flirts with {\screamo}, while {&"Is Forever Enough"} flirts with genuine old-school {\punk rock} before quickly bringing in the harmonic sweetness. {&"Something on My Mind"} opens with a {$Beatlesque} piano, and features one of the strangest choruses in recent memory -- "You'll nevah, evah, pull my levah/Not today and not forevah" is stirring and all, but does it actually mean anything? Several tracks later comes {&"Hello,"} a song with lyrics that are stupid even by {\pop}-{\punk}'s generally broad standards, and it threatens to close the album on a down note, but {&"It's Over"} and the contemplative {&"14"} bring things back to solid ground. All in all, {$Hawk Nelson} has nicely avoided the dreaded sophomore slump. ~ Rick Anderson, All Music Guide