If you hate U2 as much as I thought I did, prepare to be annoyed by this article. As it stands, U2 seems to be the most annoying thing about music today. From Bono’s annoying shades to the annoying William Blake allusion in their album title and, most famously, the annoying way they decided to distribute said shout-out. There was the annoying Yeezus ripoff cover and then the even more annoying Spotify cover, when the public realized that the only thing more annoying than Bono is a shirtless Bono. Soon U2 will inevitably release their next album (presumably titled “Songs of Experience”) in a more annoying way, like uploading it directly to our brains so we’re forced to listen while we dream/nightmare.

But until then, the safe way out is to give the obligatory scoff and drag it on over to the Recycle Bin (if it was even that simple). At that moment, it can be forgotten within the unforgiving 21st century internet riptide. Until your friend Nick lets you know that Rolling Stone ranked it the Album of the Year. In a list that didn’t bother to include excellent albums from acts like Iceage and Ariel Pink, why bother even caring? Rolling Stone is lame and they like lame music by that logic. Soon you and your friend Nick are listening to “Songs of Innocence” ironically and dancing ironically.

But then it becomes less about irony and making fun and just about fun. It’s hard to feel at first, but there is a moment for every listener where shoulders just begin moving involuntarily and feet start tapping and that general thing that happens to bodies when pleasant music surrounds them just happens. For example, there is something eerily funky about the synth at the beginning of “Sleep Like a Baby Tonight” that literally forces a head gyration known commonly as light dancing. It’s the closest the album comes to a slow burn, and while this song, like the rest of the album, has lyrics that are somewhat cringeworthy, it won’t soon stop me from lipsyncing that fun and crazy falsetto part or air guitaring the Guitar-101-meets-distortion-pedal solo. Another quick notable is the track “California,” which, fine, prompts a gag from the Barbara Ann intro but also breaks into perfect music for fun in a beat-up station wagon on route to a vacation no one can afford.

Is the overtone of the album sincere? Probably not. But at its core, U2 is a pop group, and pop’s first priority is to make music to groove to, and music that can be played in the early hours at Tom & Marty’s when it’s just you and Larry and a few other weirdos.

This album is not the best album of the year, or even in the top 50, at least in my opinion. But I can see myself screaming some of these songs when I get to know the record better. And yeah, it will be pretty annoying.