"Pop punk has been without revolution," Will Pugh, lead singer of the group Cartel, said.

In a time when some feel pop punk may be on the way out, the Screaming Is For Babies tour, headlined by The Starting Line, who are from Churchville, will hit State College -- in an attempt to revive interest in the genre among Penn State fans.

Three other bands, Copeland, Cartel and Gatsbys American Dream are also on the slate for tonight's concert at Crowbar, 420 E. College Ave.

Pugh said that he is concerned about the direction the pop punk genre is taking.

"Pop punk today isn't going anywhere," Pugh said.

He said he believes that he and his band "can take pop punk to a different level" and get it out of its rut. He said he hopes Cartel's energetic sounds can be mature, thoughtful and fun at the same time.

Pugh said a lot of the music he hears sounds unnatural. "It's easy to tell when [music] is forced," he said. "Let the song write itself."

Pugh, whose influences range from Brian Wilson to Fountains of Wayne, said he expects to transcend the typical four-chord progressions of his pop punk brethren, simply by putting thought into the music he creates.

Cartel is not the only pop punk act looking to add fresh sounds to tonight's concert.

Between Copeland's 2003 release, Beneath Medicine Tree, and their latest album, In Motion, the band has played more than 550 shows, which helped the band tighten its pop rock style, lead singer Aaron Marsh said.

Marsh, who lists The Beatles and Sunny Day Real Estate as the band members' biggest common influences, said he began teaching himself piano at the age of five.

He is the primary writer for the band, and said he and the band both have grown substantially, crediting the improvement to little more than time together and practice.

Domenic Frunzi (freshman-art) said he enjoys Copeland's mellow side and appreciates the band's originality.

"[Copeland doesn't] really sound like anything else out there," Frunzi said. "The use of the keyboard helps with their random accordion here and there."

Lyrical allusions to popular literary works like Animal Farm and Lord of the Flies are commonplace in the music of Gatsbys American Dream -- a second opening act for tonight's concert.

"Music is written from life-experience, and [all five band members] read a lot," lead singer Nic Newsham said.

He said he is currently reading Truman Capote's In Cold Blood and the band's keyboardist is reading Brave New World by Aldous Huxley.

Newsham said, due to the heavy layering, the band's music requires multiple listens in order to pick up subtleties. However, he said Gatsbys American Dream plays a "fun and fan-friendly show."

Gatsbys played with The Starting Line last summer at the Vans Warped Tour, and Newsham said he is looking forward to sharing the stage with them again tonight.