ROCK

With the release of their 2004 breakout album The Silence in Black and White, Ohio's Hawthorne Heights became the poster boys for angsty, scream-sprinkled emo jams that were begging to be sung along to live. The years of success that followed, including the mainstream explosion of their hit "Ohio is For Lovers" and a well-recieved follow up LP, were tragically soured by the sudden passing of guitarist Casey Calvert during the band's fall 2007 tour. Still, the band soldiered on in their fallen brother's honor, releasing two more records (2008's Fragile Future and 2010's Skeletons) and enduring some internal label woes in the process.

In an industry where records have melted off store shelves and onto Mediafire pages, the live concert stands as the last line of musical art that can’t be stolen and leaked to the world. While albums are passed around digitally like a dance-able hot potato, no amount of internet lurking and mp3 swapping can defame the experience of the lights, sweat, and sounds of a show. Fortunately, Panic! At the Disco and their tourmates Patrick Stump and Foxy Shazam are well aware that they’re living on that last line, and all left everything they had on the stages of Long Island’s Paramount Theater.

Shining Through has been the brainchild of San Diego singer/songwriter James Clelland for the past few years, having gained some internet popularity with a series of infectious EPs. Melding the schizophrenic, intense pop of Say Anything with the blunt, often poignant sincerity of songwriters like Conor Oberst, Clelland has refined his sound to its most potent, structured iteration yet on his recently released White Flag EP. We spoke to Clelland about the road to White Flag, and how being stuck in a cubicle has brought out some of his finest work yet.

While they might be a new name to you, Boston's A Loss for Words have been packed in a van for the better part of the last few years, bringing their honest, aggressive take on pop-punk to basements and clubs all over the world. Having just signed to Rise Records' Velocity imprint, and with their new record No Sanctuary hitting stores tomorrow, the band are under their biggest spotlight yet. While trends come and go in this genre, A Loss for Words have stuck to their guns, constantly refining their heartfelt, hard-rocking anthems with every release. We caught up with bassist Mike Adams to talk about the band's work ethic, and what sets their new record apart from the trove of new pop-punk that's scattered all over the scene.

Having toured tirelessly and put out several releases over the past few years, Boston pop-punk underdogs A Loss for Words are gearing up to release their newest effort No Sanctuary on Rise Records' Velocity imprint. On their latest track "The Hammers Fall", the band take their aggressively infectious sound to new creative heights, while remaining energetic enough to keep sweaty basement crowds in motion for hours on end.

Vocalist Matt Arsenault's R&B-tinged vocals blaze an incendiary trail over the song's chorus, while the sudden plunge into the track's dark outro will showcase just how far this five-piece have come as musicians.

Yesterday, Transit released "Listen & Forgive," the title track from their upcoming full-length. "Listen" is the most straightforward pop song the band have released, as the Boston five-piece have come a long way from the blistering punk rock that dominated their basement show setlists. While it's only been a year since 2010's excellent Keep This To Yourself, Transit have found a way to improve their songwriting tenfold. I personally love the shift to poppier territory, and can't wait to hear it fully manifested once Listen & Forgive hits stores on October 4th.

You can stream the new track over at AltPress.com. What do you guys think?

Pearl Jam: Twenty is a Cameron Crowe documentary that highlights the first 20 years of the Seattle rock legends' career, from their small-town beginnings to their 90's mainstream explosion. The documentary, which hits stores tomorrow will include a companion book, highlighting the history of Pearl Jam from the band and crew themselves.

In addition to the film and book, the band is releasing a 29-track soundtrack CD featuring rare recordings and demos, in addition to live recordings from the group's appearances on Saturday Night Live and MTV: Unplugged.

Boston pop-punkers turned bona-fide rockers Four Year Strong have released their newest single "Falling on You," a meaty track that showcases how far the group has evolved out of the saturated pop-punk scene that nursed them for years.

While their first two records sounded like hardcore kids covering New Found Glory tunes, "Falling on You" and previous single "Stuck in the Middle" play out like those same hardcore kids taking a stab at Foo Fighters. It's an evolution hinted at on last year's Enemy of the World, but it's now clearer than ever that Four Year Strong is aiming to take their metal-pop sound to stadium-sized heights. And when it sounds this good, who can blame them?

Since their first release in 2006, Portugal, The Man have created a sound unto themselves. The instantly recognizable falsetto of John Gourly atop contemporary yet classically psychedelic rock arrangements have set them apart from today’s indie music scene in a truly original way. Their latest, In the Mountain In the Cloud, (their first with Atlantic records) marches confidently down their self-made path with execution that is explicit and unmistakably their own. Keeping to their musical roots, but with a heightened sense of contentment, The Man have grown as men in a baffling world by philosophizing what they can and ooh’ing and aah’ing through the rest. Altogether free of the post hardcore influence found on their first album Waiter: You Vultures! and seemingly past the experimental funk found on their last album, American Ghetto, the Portland based clan is now left with endlessly inspiring, clean psych-rock that moves the body as much as it does the soul.