Black Tide

When you see photos of the grimacing, vaguely ethnic, dark-haired teenagers known as Black Tide, you may think for a split-second you've stumbled across vintage shots of legendary Bay Area thrash band Death Angel, which pretty much fit the same description when they started out over two decades ago. But for all that Black Tide throws around the term "metal" to describe its sound, the Miami-area quartet — not to mention its rabidly enthusiastic journalist supporters — could use a lesson or two in how teens can rock hard from the old (but still not very old) lads in D.A. Black Tide's sound leans more toward Dokken- and Mötley-esque hair rock than what we'd consider true metal. On the other hand, the band shows a keen mastery of melody. Song after song is filled with hooks — and not just in the choruses, either. Practically every vocal line contains a treat for the ear that makes you want to hit "repeat." Any given song contains more catchiness than Silverchair's entire catalog. So perhaps there's life after teen stardom for these guys yet. In the meantime, comparisons to classic Metallica are downright laughable, but thanks to novelty-hungry audiences stoked on Guitar Hero, Black Tide is, indeed, riding the right wave.