Silverstein With Norma Jean, blessthefall, and Before Their Eyes

Although they're forerunners of the post-post-post-hardcore generation, like so many of their peers, the guys of the Canadian quintet Silverstein largely reject the "screamo" tag. And sure, pigeonholing sucks, but let's be real. The band's sound hinges on many of that genre's linchpins: loud, distorted guitars that love breakdowns, shrieked vocals, and emotional (perhaps sometimes self-involved) narratives told in lyrical fragments. But what helps set the band apart from the similar-sounding crop is its geographical pedigree, and a real reverence for its more underground hardcore and emo forebears. Based originally in Burlington, Ontario, Silverstein came up with post-hardcore big deals like Alexisonfire, Boys Night Out, and Moneen. But the guys were aware of a musical history before them — they covered songs by (and introduced their younger fans to) predecessors like Saves the Day and Lifetime. There's all that, and an honesty of expression which, no matter how much it grates with cynics, has connected with kids on a massive scale. The band's second and third full-length albums, released in 2005 and 2007, respectively, both reached the upper quarter of the Billboard 200. Its most recent effort, A Shipwreck in the Sand, was released, like the others, on Victory Records, and since its street date of March 31 seems poised for similar success.