6 amazing bands that hail from Pennsylvania

America is one massive country that harbours countless diverse music scenes throughout, but it seems odd that most of the bands that come into the limelight are either from the coasts of California or the boroughs of New York city. So, to bring justice to the other states, here are some hidden gems (other than the Amish people) from the state of Pennsylvania that will make you say "You know what, New York and California are overrated."

The Menzingers

With the current slew of bands attaching the word "punk" to their genre, this Philadelphia band is sticking to their roots with their brand of raw, unadulterated, no-holds-barred punk rock. Besides that they also craft songs alluding to Shakespeare's Hamlet ('Even For An Eggshell') and The Siege of Bastogne in World War II ('Cold Weather Gear'), not to mention their rock-out rendition of The Clash's 'Straight To Hell'.

InnerPartySystem

Likened to England's Does It Offend You, Yeah? but with more edge on the rave side, this band can bring the house down from one song  ('Die Tonight, Live Forever') to just tearing the whole house apart in another ('Don't Stop'), metaphorically speaking. Their shows are not to be missed as they have their own lighting effects and do live remixes of their songs, making sure you'll be partying all night long.

I Am Alaska

A mish-mash of alternative, post-grunge and post-hardcore, I Am Alaska never fails to pique your senses; for example, 'Proletariat' starts off drowsily before bursting into a sonic assault of anthemic shouting. Comparisons with The Mars Volta, At The Drive In and Circa Survive are inevitable, so I'll let you be the judge with their single 'Get Real'.

This Or The Apocalypse

Coming from the same hometown as August Burns Red, this band also subcribes to the "Lancaster metalcore" sound that fuses fast breakdowns with heavy drum beats. The complex structure of their songs, eg. 'Two Wars' and 'Mauna Kea', has been hailed as "the thinking man's mosh".

Good Old War

Bordering on indie folk and Americana, Good Old War is the perfect kind of music to play while on a road trip with all the windows down and the breeze hitting your face (as a start, see 'Coney Island'). They  seem to be good friends with ex-Saosin singer Anthony Green; they recorded his album Avalon with him as a band and supported him on his fall 2008 tour.

mewithoutYou

Originally started out as a spoken-vocal post-hardcore band, mewithoutYou has evolved into a spiritual soothsayer ever since singer Aaron Weiss decided to unleash his Sufi faith to their music. Gone are the days of angst-filled 'January 1979' and more of the storytelling 'The Fox, The Cookie & The Crow'. It is not uncommon to see that some of their songs have Arabic verses in it, and they even have a track titled 'Allah, Allah, Allah' on their latest album.

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