East Coast pop-punk quartet Good Charlotte recently released its sophomore album under Epic Records, titled Young & Hopeless — a follow-up to its self-titled debut album released in 2000. These punks, although excessively tattooed, pierced and heavily sprayed and spiked with mohawks, can’t help but give off that “loveable bad boy” vibe.

The Maryland group began its musical endeavors 1996 with vocalist Joel and his twin brother/guitarist Benji never having sung or played an instrument in their lives. After seeing a Beastie Boys show on their Ill Communication tour, the brothers formed Good Charlotte with high school friends — Paul on bass, Aaron on drums and guitarist Billy (who is no longer with the band). The band quickly rose in popularity around the Washington, D.C. area in 1998 and 1999.

Good Charlotte has a sound most immediately identifiable with corporate rockers Blink-182 (although lead vocalist Joel’s singing generally outshines Tom and Mark’s whiny melodies). On the best parts of Young & Hopeless, Good Charlotte’s beats are fast and furious, and the vocals are sung with snotty belligerence. But on most of the tunes, simple guitar chords noisily fill the middle range and the lyrics border on shallow.

The band boasts, however, that this album has a more raw and immediate sound, compared to the pristine perfection of the first album’s production.

Also clearly influenced by Green Day and even less so by The Clash, the band in no way possesses the sophistication or talent in either instrumentation or lyrical ability, yet manages to effectively execute an album that is marked by fun, simple songs, with the occasional deeply personal tune about absent fathers or cruel ex-girlfriends.

In other words, the band successfully incorporates the energetic elements found in ’70s punk but is also able to write the sentimental ballads found in mainstream corporate rock. The members’ Cali-punk sensibility has that retro-pop quality in the harmonies, kind of a cross between The Beach Boys and, as a more contemporary example, Third Eye Blind, but most of it sounds a bit contrived and uninspired.

“My Bloody Valentine” stands out as a serious contribution of quality to the album, as well as the ballad “Emotionless,” which has an interesting orchestral arrangement.

The album runs in the tradition of pop-punk instrumentation more brilliantly mastered by the likes of The Get Up Kids, A New Found Glory and others, so if you want cute-and-cuddly punk, sans grit and anger, (an oxymoron?), this is the band for you.

The songs are certainly catchy, especially the track “Girls and Boys” and the album’s first single, “Lifestyles of The Rich and Famous,” which has made it up to No. 1 on “TRL” in recent weeks.

These boys have all the makings of MTV icons: They’ve mastered that “cute yet dangerous” look, they came into sudden success out of nowhere, and they’ve got a set of twins in the band (Joel and Benji now host the late-night video show “All Things Rock”).

In the liner notes of Young & Hopeless, Benji writes, “Yeah, I’ll admit it. I listen to our records, and I am thinking how crazy all this is. Three years ago I was stocking shelves at Target, living on ramen noodles and crashing at Billy’s house. Now I’m on tour. Four kids from nowhere.”

You might like to own Good Charlotte’s album for the purpose of owning some pretty good driving music, but some advice — you’d be better off going to the band’s show. Sources say that the group’s live performances are incredibly energetic and a bit more hardcore than its glossy presentation on both albums.