Sweat flies from my forehead, while elbows and various other physical extremities pummel every square inch of my flesh. My own private mosh-pit is the greatest gift Pressure 4-5’s major label debut, Burning the Process, can bestow. Sure, it’s only in my head, but God it feels good to beat the crap out of yourself for a worthy cause: Rockity-friggin’-Roll.

In a time where musical genres, through fusion and collaboration, have become twisted like a knot of drunken contortionists, Pressure 4-5 sticks to what makes a rock band truly rock. The formula: two grinding guitars (Mark Barry, Joe Schmidt), a pounding drummer (Tom Schmidt), thumping bass (Lyle McKeany), and a lead singer (Adam Rich) who has perfected the art of the catchy hook.

Moments exist when one longs for the band to let out its inner Korn and pop some eardrums. There are flashes in tracks like “Stares” where one relishes hearing Rich tear apart his precious vocal chords as the band flies through charging guitar riffs.

Blandness rears its ugly head in “Pieces,” but the album manages to float comfortably from crunchy, gritty blitzkriegs to the kind of harmonies that make pre-teens momentarily swoon away from their N’Sync worship.

Ascending from the stucco-jungle that is Isla Vista, these local boys have graduated from keg-cup littered “lawns” to a major label. Although the band breaks no musical territory to speak of, the boys need only stick to their guns and promise to keep bodies slamming with future offerings to cement a place in the TRL pantheon.

[Jessica Jardine hopes this review doesn’t upset Pressure 4-5’s delicate sensibilities]