It’s been some years since the whole post-hardcore/screamo thing died (Thursday? Taking Back Sunday? How quickly we forget…), so it’s nice to see Johnny Whitney and Cody Votolato of Jaguar Love moving in a different direction. After exchanging third member J. Clark for a drum machine last year, the duo will release their second full-length this spring, an album that is promised to be less Blood Brothers, more Daft Punk and New Order. And if “Up All Night,” the new track that hit the web last fall, is any indicator, it’s going to be one snappy record. It’s a relentless song, intro’d with a squealing synth and completely predominated by Whitney’s trademark shrieking, glass-threatening vocals – but there’s more of a sense of control at work here, from the purposely agitating bridge to the way Votolato’s sputtering guitar licks perfectly reinforce the easy groove of the melody. Factor in the relevant lyrics – “We stayed up all night with 40s in our hands/ Watching Paris burn and bombs fall on Afghanistan” – and it looks like we’ve got a new favorite party anthem. With Slender Means, Nazca Lines and Blood Cells. All ages. E. THOMPSON

Fri., Jan. 15, 7:30 p.m., 2010