When I first heard PS I Love You’s new album “For Those Who Stay,” I couldn’t help but recall these words by Shakespeare: “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would still smell as sweet.”

The band’s name is unbearably sweet, but its music more closely resembles a thorn than a rose.

Paul Saulnier and Benjamin Nelson comprise the Canadian duo whose two previous albums each earned them nominations for the Polaris Prize. I suspect their third and latest release – which blends excellent guitar riffs, walls of distortion and cosmic jams – will put them back on that list.

PS I Love You flows in the same vein as fellow Canadian two-piece Japandroids but probably will never create anything so anthemic as that band’s “The House That Heaven Built.”

Instead, PS I Love You steps away from the forward-moving mentality of many garage rockers and takes a moment to enjoy its surroundings. The title track meanders around a prolonged guitar solo that’s not too far removed from something like Spiritualized.

There’s also a few barn-burners on “For Those Who Stay” that work really well. “Advice” opens with a droning guitar that waits for a count-in on cymbals before breaking away into a heavily distorted riff. It might sound like a slower version of Japandroids, but “Advice” isn’t afraid to proudly display influences from Hüsker Dü or My Bloody Valentine.

The distortion on the guitar riff hits like a wall of sound, but it’s cushioned by the pop sensibilities of the song. At 4 minutes 50 seconds, it is one of the longer songs on the first half of the record and definitely the best.

“Afraid of the Light” begins with more ambient guitar and harmonizing vocals that eventually give way to a jangly pop song. Where the song really shines is where the duo incorporates the original guitar and vocal harmonies back into the chorus. The song comes together as a whole and moves from slow, to jangly, to rough around the edges by the end of the song.

The final song “Hoarders” starts strong and keeps up the pace for half the song. At that point what sounds like a liquid explosion strips the song down to a primal drum beat and guitar riff, which PS I Love You jams for the remainder of the song.

Soaring synthesizers come in, too, adding much to the experience. Little guitar flourishes and vocal bits appear and build off the looping riffs. The last 30 seconds are a full burst of distortion, holding onto every element of the original before ending suddenly. The song takes you to the end of the album in the best way possible.

So, what’s in a name? PS I Love You is a sweet anomaly in an otherwise crowded garage-rock scene, but it’s also the most thoughtful. “For Those Who Stay” demonstrates that familiar tropes in a musical genre can and should be experimented with.

While Juliet laments over Romeo’s ill-fated name, the tale of this duo is likely to end more pleasantly than those star-crossed lovers.