The Starting Line

The Starting Line are among the poppiest and most agreeable of the current crop of often indistinguishable emo-punk bands, and their latest album, Direction, is so studio-polished and wholesome that it could easily be mistaken for a Jonis Brothers release. The openers tonight at their 7 p.m. concert at the Rave, Bayside, are much edgier, although even that group has softened with age, toning down their morose lyrics. In 2005, the group’s drummer was killed in a freak tour van accident, so it was a welcome relief when the band returned in 2007 withThe Walking Wounded,an unexpectedly optimistic album that suggested the band was making amends with the tragedy.