Never Shout Never

“Time Travel”

Warner Bros. Records

Christofer Drew will remember 2011 as a year of indelible change. His hometown of Joplin was devastated by a tornado on May 22. And on Sept. 20, “Time Travel,” the new album by his band, Never Shout Never, will be released by Warner Bros. Records. Just as the destruction in Joplin rendered much of his world unrecognizable, many loyal fans of Drew’s band won’t initially know what to make of “Time Travel.”

Drew attempts to make the transition from a cuddly emo kid to a serious rocker on the self-produced album. He succeeds.

Although he’s just 20, Drew is already a superstar among the Hot Topic set. Never Shout Never’s two previous albums claimed spots on the upper reaches of Billboard’s album chart. Will the 2.7 million people who follow the band on Facebook stick with it, or will they “unlike” Never Shout Never’s new direction?

Drew’s previous work is cloying folk-rock that resembles an inferior version of Conor Oberst’s Bright Eyes, but it apparently resonates in the bedrooms of misunderstood junior high students. Drew might have sensed that he should abandon that realm before his core fan base outgrew him. Never Shout Never’s best known song is the 2010 YouTube sensation “Can’t Stand It.” The ditty features the excruciating line “everything you do is super duper cute” in its insufferable chorus.

The epic title track of “Time Travel” epitomizes Drew’s new path as a rule-breaking rocker. “I carried my mind on a plate,” he sweetly croons. “I seasoned it well with acid and MDMA.”

There’s nothing “super duper cute” about LSD and Ecstasy. Drug references are sprinkled throughout “Time Travel.” An advance copy of the release opens with the words “How many pills must I swallow?”

Never Shout Never is counting on trading in teenyboppers for discerning adults. Some of Never Shout Never’s young fans might understandably equate “Time Travel” with the effervescent sounds of Owl City, but it’s apparent that Drew and his bandmates have been listening to a lot of Queen and Pink Floyd.

“Silver Ecstasy” has all the drama of a Queen song, although Drew’s light voice is no match for Freddie Mercury’s powerful wail. The fanciful “Awful” is a psychedelic update of Pink Floyd’s “See Emily Play.”

A few traces of Drew’s previous incarnation as an earnest emo artist remain. “I was so mean to a girl who loved me unconditionally,” he sighs on “Complex Heart.”

Even then the song’s classic rock sheen makes the juvenile triteness acceptable. Only “Simplistic Trance-Like Getaway” seems leftover from Never Shout Never’s puerile past.

The heart of “Time Travel” is its epic title track. Wildly ambitious, “Time Travel” could be Drew’s attempt to create his generation’s version of “Bohemian Rhapsody.”

“I will sell my soul to rock and roll,” he chants on “Time Travel.”

Drew’s asking price should be high.