A blue-collar punk band from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Comeback Kid (otherwise known as CBK) combine declamatory vocals with a hyper-speed rhythm section and two riff-happy guitarists. The Canadian band formed in 2002, with lead singer Scott Wade joining forces with lead guitarist Andrew Neufeld (also the lead singer in the Winnipeg-based Christian hardcore act Figure Four) and adding rhythm guitarist Jeremy Hiebert (also a member of Figure Four), bassist Cliff Heide, and drummer Kyle Profetta. While Neufeld and Hiebert continued touring and recording with Figure Four, Comeback Kid managed to put together a self-released six-song demo that earned the band a deal with California's hardcore label Face Down Records, which released the band's debut album, Turn It Around, in the spring of 2003. By now, Comeback Kid (having already gone through several transient bassists) had settled down with new bass player Kevin Call. After extensive touring throughout Canada, Europe, and the United States in support of the record, Comeback Kid signed with the influential punk and emo label Victory Records in 2004. Victory released the band's second album (produced by pop-punk legend Bill Stevenson of Black Flag and Descendents fame), Wake the Dead, in February 2005. Following another bout of extensive touring, including dates supporting Madball, Sick of It All, and Gorilla Biscuits, Wade announced his resignation from the band in early 2006. His last show with Comeback Kid was that summer, after which the band continued onward as a quartet with Neufeld taking over lead vocal duties. The slimmed-down band then issued Broadcasting... in February 2007 and returned to the road. Released the following year, the concert recording Through the Noise captured the band's live show in CD/DVD format. ~ Stewart Mason, Rovi

Post-hardcore act Misery Signals blend math rock tropes like tricky time signature shifts and twiddly guitar parts with the strained aggression and sore throat vocals of screamo, creating a sound with more emotional heft than the former yet that is also less monochromatic than the latter. Misery Signals formed in Madison, WI, in 2003, featuring members of a number of regional hardcore and emo bands. Singer Jesse Zaraska had the highest profile, having worked with 7 Angels, 7 Plagues and the Canadian hardcore act Compromise, which had broken up in 2002 following the death of two of its members in a car accident. Guitarist Jeff Aust had been in Hamartia, while guitarist Ryan Morgan, bassist Kyle Johnson, and drummer Branden Morgan (Ryan's brother) filled out the lineup. Following the band's self-titled six track EP, released in 2003, Aust was replaced by new guitarist Stuart Ross. The revised lineup signed with the New Jersey indie Ferret Records and released Of Malice and the Magnum Heart in June 2004. After a lengthy tour in support of their debut full-length, Zaraska chose to leave the band to return to his hometown of Edmonton, Alberta, and join the acoustic post-rock band Sleeping Girl with other former Compromise members. In the post-millennial equivalent of those bands who used MTV to advertise for new members back in the '80s, the remaining members of Misery Signals posted an instrumental song on their /MySpace page, inviting fans to send in their lyrics and vocals. New singer Karl Schubach won the challenge and joined the band. Misery Signals' second album, Mirrors, was released in August 2006. ~ Stewart Mason, Rovi