Boston’s Receiving End of Sirens makes some glorious noise on its second CD, The Earth Sings Mi Fa Mi. It’s an ambitious move for the emo band — which had a bit of a problem separating itself from the pack on 2005’s Between the Heart and the Synapse. This time, it latches onto a galaxy-shaking theme, some killer riffs, and a very prog-like approach to record-making. The album revolves around an ancient astronomical theory regarding musical scales and their relation to pain and misery (how emo!). Fittingly, the Receiving End of Sirens uses it as a launching point for the band’s own melodic agony. Songs like “Smoke and Mirrors” and “The Salesman, the Husband, the Lover” find the balance between 16th-century philosophy and some very modern-day relationship problems. www.grogshop.gs.
Sun., Sept. 9, 9 p.m.

This article appears in Sep 5-11, 2007.