To get a good idea of what Sceva sounds like, imagine a nice, young emo band like Jimmy Eat World bouncing around the stage in clean-cut glee. Now imagine them hog-tied to a cactus and set on fire. That's Sceva.

From shimmery tenor vocals framed in math-rock melodies to guttural screams overtop plodding hardcore riffs, Sceva has got a musical identity complex that makes for an interesting (and refreshing) sound. "It's heavy rock with hardcore and emo influences," says guitarist Aaron Miller. "I'd say it's like Poison the Well meets Incubus meets Taproot." For people not "in the know," that means that Sceva kicks some hardcore ass, but in a neat, rhythmic kind of way.

"We're changing at the moment," he continues. "[We're becoming] a lot heavier, but a lot more melodic. Bands don't really do a lot of melodic stuff during heavy parts, and that's what we're trying to do. ... Some of our new stuff is more chaotic, but there's more breakdowns in it, and there's a lot thicker melody with it, too." Miller is joined by vocalist Jon Hall, bassist Don Egan, and drummer Jason Lech. The New Cumberland-based band got its start about a year and a half ago (under the name Insurgence) when members of Central Pa. rock bands Trauma and Frad joined forces. After a name change and a few member shifts and departures, Sceva settled into its current lineup last December.

Since that time, the band has toured heavily up and down the East Coast, playing regular gigs with local rockers like Weapons For Peace and Thirteen Over Eight and dates with major-label big-boys like Mudvayne and Bane. "[Our live show is] chaotic. There's tons of energy coming from all of us. I guess you could say, we like to hurt people," Miller laughs. "It's not that bad, but people are afraid. They stand back when we're playing because we like to get out in the crowd and start something."

The band's new full-length album, Wasting Useless Tears, will be released at their upcoming show at The Why're. "It's much better produced [than our first CD]. There's a lot more emphasis on the music now," Miller claims. "You can tell we've matured more as a band on this CD. ... It's a lot tighter, and there's a lot less commotion going on.

"We want to further ourselves in our career," he concludes. "We've gotten interest from some indie labels, but none that could really do anything for us. ... Every time we go up to play a smaller show, people ask us why we're playing. And we just say, 'Because we love to play.'"