State of Shock fans need not fear. The rock band’s long-awaited new album, Rock N’ Roll Romance, has a couple of ballads, most notably “Last Call” and “Innocent Girl,” but it’s not entirely a lover’s lament, although it could well have been.

“We actually had to cut some out because we keep on writing too many ballads!” says drummer Johnny Philippon. “It’s like okay, we’ve got to stop doing this!’”

You couldn’t have blamed the band if they had decided to go after the Bic lighter crowd. After all, one of the biggest hits off the Vancouver quintet’s last album, 2007’s Life, Love & Lies, was “Best I Ever Had,” a slow and epic rocker about the toll life on the road takes on relationships. And certainly the members of State of Shock – Philippon, guitarists Jesse Wainwright and Simon “Kadooh” Clow, bassist Alison Toews and singer Cameron Melnyk – have seen their fair share of personal and professional turmoil these last few years, from breakups to business problems – all of which acted as fodder for the new lyrics, although you may not be able to tell which songs are about which.

“Being in a traveling rock & roll band is very tough on relationships, and all five of us have gone through a number of relationships because it’s really hard to make two things work that take up so much time. When you’re in a band, you’re married to this thing,” says Wainwright.

Rock N’ Roll Romance, out August 16, was written over the course of a year, primarily in the band members’ basements, save for one productive weekend spent writing with Our Lady Peace frontman Raine Maida at his home in Bel Air. Two songs came out of that session, “Still Got Tomorrow” and “Runaway,” the latter Wainwright says will likely be released as a single at some point. The album’s first single is the uptempo “Have a Nice Day.”

Recording took place over three months at Vancouver’s Warehouse Studios, beginning in December 2010. Producer Jeff Dawson (Daniel Powter, Kelly Rowland) and mixer Mike Fraser, the same team behind the boards of Life, Love & Lies, returned for this record. Of Dawson, Wainwright says: “We get along with him well. It’s a comfortable situation to work with. He’s not a guy who’s telling us ‘no, no, no, no, no. This is what you guys need to do.’ He just basically lets us do what we do.”

On Rock N’ Roll Romance that means the driving rhythm of “Still Got Tomorrow,” the hook-laden chorus of “Gone n’ Done n’ Did It” and the passionate and haunting performance of “Innocent Girl.” While the band hopes to duplicate the success of Life, Love & Lies, which was certified gold in Canada, partly on the strength of the radio hits “Money Honey” and “Best I Ever Had,” Melnyk insists that the band would never deliberately try to write a radio hit, even if they knew how.

“We do pay attention to what’s going on in the rock world,” he says. “But I’m not about to start putting implants in my cheeks and my shoulders! We just want to write music, and if you write a good song and you think it will last a long time, you’ll have a decent career, and people will respect and appreciate what you’re doing.”

The band’s fans certainly appreciate State of Shock, having won over thousands of them touring with the likes of Seether, Staind, Papa Roach and Nickelback, as well as opening for Aerosmith and Bon Jovi. With touring scheduled to start this August, the band are anxious to bring Romance to live audiences across the country.

“From day one we’ve been devoted and dedicated, heart and soul,” says Melnyk. “We’ve made this a life together, to do this. Rock N’ Roll Romance is kind of an ongoing love affair with music. It’s not something we’re necessarily content and comfortable with all the time, but we’re kind of stuck in it. I wake up singing and humming every day. It’s something we always do, and I’ll take it to my grave.”