Chances are American Steel fans didn’t believe it when the group announced it was playing a show last year. After all, the Oakland punk act had been defunct for half a decade, and most of its members had moved on to the decidedly poppier project Communique. There was also the fact that the show was scheduled for April Fools’ Day. Fortunately for punk fans, the show was no joke.

“We played a house party,” singer-guitarist Rory Henderson says from his Oakland abode, talking about American Steel’s return. “We were kind of testing the waters to see how it felt. We had a great time, so we decided to do another record.”

The surge the group felt during its reunion show was just what Henderson, bassist John Peck, and guitarist Ryan Massey needed. After releasing three records of dainty, Interpol–meets–New Order tunes, Communique had hit a creative slump. With American Steel back in action, it wasn’t difficult for the trio to shelve their pop project.

“We were worn down and just weren’t having fun anymore,” Henderson says of Communique. “We were throwing American Steel songs into Communique sets. It just started sounding like more fun. That’s our general motivation: to have a good time.”

Destroy Their Future, American Steel’s fourth album, sees the combo returning to the steamrolling style of its earlier records. Opener “Sons of Avarice” pummels along on drummer Scott Healy’s furious rockabilly beat as a barrage of ultra-distorted guitars bang out its anthemic chorus. Chock full of chugging power chords, the similarly speedy “Love and Logic” finds Henderson spitting out the mantra, “Love’s the only answer for anything you’ve ever wondered.”

After exploring styles outside of his comfort zone with Communique, Henderson found it easy to try new things with American Steel. “It was important to have new songs to put out there and not just rehash,” the guitarist explains.

Acoustic number “Hurtlin’ ” plays like a bunch of crusty punks leafing through the Woody Guthrie songbook, while standout track “Smile on Me” takes the band into gentler territory with its ballad-style intro, which includes lines like “It’s 8 in the morning and you’ve been crying all night.”

“It’s about a fragile person that I was taking care of,” he tells the Straight. “It’s got a country rhythm to it. It’s an odd song—that’s why I like it so much. Curve balls are becoming fun for me.”

While adding touches of folk and soul to its sound has kept things interesting for American Steel, the band’s four members understand that die-hard fans want them to stick to the tried and true. Principal songwriter Henderson’s main concern, however, was making an album he was proud of.

“We had it with a couple of Communique records where I just hated the songs we were recording. These [Destroy Their Future’s songs] weren’t going to hit public consumption unless we were completely happy.”

Rejuvenated by his love of punk rock, Henderson is thrilled to be playing new material with American Steel rather than focusing on the band’s past.

“It doesn’t feel like a nostalgia tour because we were never immensely popular,” he states before joking, “but I’m ready for the state-fair circuit. Do they have an underground-punk version of it?”

American Steel opens for NOFX at the Commodore Ballroom on Friday (May 9).