This Century set heartbreak to a dance beat in "Love Killer."

Phoenix's This Century have been making waves on the pop-punk circuit since 2007, and they're on deck to bust through the mainstream any day now. The four-piece outfit are masters of bouncy, party-starting anthems that sound cut from the same cloth as anything by The Ready Set, Metro Station, or The Maine. And with their new dance-until-your-body-cries track "Love Killer," you'll be all, "WHY IS LOVE SO HARD?" whilst fighting back the urge to do "The Carlton." (Keep fighting. OK, fine, LET IT GO.)

Listen to This Century's "Love Killer" after the jump.

If you delve into the finer points of This Century's pop-rock past, you'll discover the boys have actually been BFFs with The Maine since signing to Action Theory Records in 2010. (Side note: Doesn't frontman Joel Kanitz bear a striking resemblance to The Maine's John O'Callaghan? Tell us we're wrong.) In 2011, they released their debut album, Sound of Fire, and continued to keep damn good company by touring with Good Charlotte, Hey Monday, and Forever the Sickest Kids. Their second LP, Biography of Heartbreak, is set to drop May 14 (you can pre-order it here), and even though they've already released one earworm-y single, "Slow Dance Night," "Love Killer" totally ups the ante. It's practically made for Top 40, and -- dare we say it? -- kind of sounds like a long-lost One Direction song.

Set to a buoyant, punchy beat, Joel coasts through the noise as he croons about a relationship that's some kinda doomed: "Palms overhead / Do you wanna start a war? / Was everything you needed / Worth fighting for?" We caught up with guitarist Sean Silverman to get some exclusive insight on the track: "It was based around the idea of relationship sabotage and not necessarily a right or wrong. It also deals with the issues of trust and commitment and being so quick to want to implode a relationship before it even has a chance to flourish." So, clearly we're dealing with a little more than your average "It's not you, it's me" situation. Regardless of the gray areas, these dudes are total wizards of woe -- they take heartbreak and turn it into a sugar rush. And hey, maybe that's just the remedy: Dance through the pain!

Look out for Biography of Heartbreak come May 14, and check out This Century's upcoming June tour dates!

+ Listen to This Century's "Love Killer."

Photo credit: Dirk Mai