Goo Goo Dolls, “Chaos In Bloom.”

After more than three decades as a band and a dozen studio albums, Goo Goo Dolls realized the people with the best understanding of their sound is, well, them. For Chaos In Bloom, frontman John Rzeznik pulled double duty and also handled production for the first time. The Western New York rockers rented a Woodstock studio during quarantine to piece this record together. The resulting album dials into the Goos sound to its earliest form. It’s 10 tracks sound like the band playing together in a room, with few bells and whistles.

The opening acoustic rocker, “Yeah, I Like You,” is a driving guitar track that’s urgent and upbeat. Rzeznik’s unique tone and razor-sharp vocals are instantly present. It feels like such an authentic trip to ’90s post-grunge pop nostalgia, but with a freshness and found-again energy.

It doesn’t feel like a “pandemic album,” although Rzeznik wrote some of the lyrics through the lens of isolation.

“War” is a building rocker, the shifts dynamics from a darkly melodic verse exploding to an upbeat chorus.

“I’m not the enemy/ But darling I do believe that you’ll be the end of me,” he sings on the bridge.

“Save Me From Myself” keeps the energy going, but in much more intimate and acoustic setting. It’s infectious and instantly memorable, with Rzeznik singing of the push and pull of relationships. More than once, he sings of the internal war playing out inside his own psyche. “Let the Sun” begins as a fairly folky acoustic ballad until the band kicks in for the song’s waning moments to take it out on a soaring high note. All these years later, Rzeznik and bassist and songwriter Robby Takac are still effective song crafters.

Takac takes over the vocal duties on “Loving Life,” a throwback rocker that relies on riffs and big percussive energy. He has a very classic rock sound on his vocal but the song is a little ’90s grunge mixed with ’70s bombast. It’s a fun change of pace. Rzeznik returns for the upbeat and punky “Going Crazy,” which provides some of the most urgent energy on the record.

“I’m on the inside/ Can you pull me out?” Rzeznik desperately asks of the often uncertain world around him.

“Day After Day” is a little more experimental, built on big beats and heavy reverb-laden vocals that make for an expansive atmospheric backdrop. The song jumps between quiet, sometimes whispered verses to a fist-pumping singalong chorus. Takac returns for “Past Mistakes,” another track that digs into ’80s rock, built on heavy melodies. The shared vocals spices things up and throws in variety.

The first true ballad is the piano-driven “You Are the Answer,” an earnest and intimate portrait with Rzeznik on vocals. It’s not overcooked at all, simply with a few atmospheric additions. Goo Goo Dolls close out the album on a more optimistic note with a mid-tempo acoustic track “Superstar.”

“Love is all around because you’re a superstar,” Rzeznik sings.

Chaos In Bloom is a straightforward collection of well-written songs. Fans of Goo Goo Dolls’ earliest works should find a lot to like with the record; a solid revitalization of a band that’s been getting it done for a long time.

Follow writer Mike DeWald at Twitter.com/mike_dewald.