Baltimore-based alt-rock band Agents of the Sun is picking up some well-known fans for their hard rock theatrics.  (Tennis star Venus Williams recommends them on her website.)  They're not quite hard enough to be exactly called metal or punk (which is not necessarily a bad thing), though they certainly pound out some heavy hooks and angry vocals.  As it is, they are sort of an interesting blend of the strengths of Simple Plan and Lifehouse.

The band is at its best in a quartet of poppier numbers in the middle of the disk, the more emo "Therapy," the lovely pop tune "Camouflage," the old-school classic rock moves of "Not Enough" and the proto-new-wave-meets-prog-rock track "Murder on the Yellow Brick Road."  Also very nice is the aptly titled album closer "Sweet Ending."  If they mined this commercial vein a little more they might stand out from the pack a bit.