P.O.D./Hoobastank/Islander/Burning Vegas/Era 9/Impending Lies

P.O.D.’s roots go back to 1991 when the group emerged out of San Ysidro, a lower-middle-class San Diego suburb that's spitting distance from the Mexican border. Singer Sonny Sandoval, who grew up in a young family of "teenagers having kids," says he was weaned on AC/DC and Led Zeppelin when he was a kid but then later discovered punk and reggae. And when he found out that “guys of color” were doing punk rock, that opened up a whole new world to him. Internal tensions led the band to splinter and in 2008 the band went on hiatus after a South American tour. But while on break, Sandoval kept in touch with longtime producer and friend Howard Benson (Daughtry, Bon Jovi, Kelly Clarkson) and when the band reconvened in 2011, it recruited him to produce the album. He’s again at the helm for the band’s forthcoming album, The Awakening. The album’s not out until August, but the band’s on tour to play some of the new songs, including the catchy single, “The Goes Out to You,” an anthemic song that sounds like a cross between 311 and Rage Against the Machine. (Niesel)