BROCKHAMPTON’s second album arrives just over two months after their debut. A third album is imminent. So it’s fitting that this trilogy is called Saturation, a flood of material functioning as an extension of the group’s personality. BROCKHAMPTON are a rap collective defined by confidence—the idea that trying is as valuable as doing. They’re like a West Coast Wu-Tang Clan where everybody’s a winner. “It’s musical vomit, you just throw it up, you can’t resist the urge,” Ameer Vann said after the first Saturation came out. “We’re just trying to capitalize on how easily everything is flowing right now, we don’t really want to stop.” The sequel is not vastly different from its predecessor, but it is an improvement. Whereas the first Saturation preached self-assurance, the second actually collects on it.

In a short span, BROCKHAMPTON have ameliorated some of their more glaring flaws that existed on their debut. In place of the preachy motivation and biographical introductions, the Los Angeles group offer more appealing bouts of aggression and swagger. On the sinister “Chick,” Vann raps astutely, “Imma be a star even if I say the same things.” He’s has emerged as the most magnetic member of the nebulous-numbered crew. He’s got a biting sense of humor and weaves political commentary into his lyrics as easily as he does drug talk, but it’s the “Chick” line that gets to the core of his and BROCKHAMPTON’s ethos: They don’t have to say much to succeed, so long as they say it convincingly. On the same track, Matt Champion proves the point: “And I won’t cater to you/Yeah, I am not Carrabba’s/And I ain’t taking orders,” all with a knowing wink that name-dropping an Italian food chain is not exactly fashionable, but he still sounds good doing it.

The catchiest BROCKHAMPTON songs isolate one glossy element—like a keyboard arpeggio on their debut’s “Gold” or string plucks on II’s “Jello”—atop the mix as stand-ins for richer, fuller beats. The production on II continues in the same form as their debut: cool, funky, and polished, with just enough odd ornaments (a swirling G-funk synth on “Gummy,” a snake charmer’s melody on “Sweet”) to stand out from the mainstream. But there’s a grimier mood that adds to the record’s urgency. Kevin Abstract begins “Junky” with a ferocious verse about being queer—“‘Why you always rap about being gay?’” he shouts, “’Cause not enough niggas rap and be gay!”—and even when his bandmates rap with less objective gravity, the coiled beats makes them feel just as important.

It’s not yet clear the through line that makes BROCKHAMPTON a bona fide crew rather than just a bunch of guys who rap together. Across these 16 tracks, their personalities and strengths come into sharper focus: Abstract, the founder and leader, is best when relegated to the hook; Dom McLennon plays the straight man, delivering a steady flow when called upon; Champion is dry and blunt; Merlyn Wood is a vocal wildcard; JOBA is the falsetto changeup who can hold his own as a rapper; bearface is the hidden balladeer; and Ameer Vann is just plain great. But there are precious few moments where they complement each other or build on distinct themes. For the most part, members are just placed together on lengthy tracks like “Sweet,” “Gummy,” and “Swamp,” where serviceable verses become less than the sum of their parts.

BROCKHAMPTON are still awkwardly straddling the hip-hop and pop worlds, a byproduct, perhaps, of their superego-free approach to making music. It feels like the bars and hooks from the young crew are still incubating, so the music on II comes out a little underdone. The album is joyful, but it’s more like joy in a vacuum, with little ebullience to make the music transcend beyond its inherent quality. The beats are smooth, but often lack the requisite bass knock to rattle around in your head for days. Their rhymes are playful (Dom McLennon puts on a show on “Sweet,” opening his verse with, “The original lick-splickety, higher than Yosemite”), but they don’t test vocal or lyrical limits. On Saturation II, there remains a sense that no matter how cool BROCKHAMPTON sound, they prize coolness more than they prize breaking molds and taking risks to become something bigger.