The Almost and The Starting Line are playing a free show Sunday night at Club Congress, 311 E. Congress St. While the show is free, tickets are limited. Visit www.kfma.com for ticket availability. Doors open at 7 p.m.

While pop-punk bands like Fall Out Boy and Good Charlotte are popular on radio and TV, it’s hard to find bands that provoke much hatred. It’s as if for every such band, there are thousands of music snobs ready to point out flaws in each of its songs.

The Starting Line is one band constantly barraged with the pop-punk label. Despite this, the Pennsylvania natives have been growing in popularity since their 2002 debut album.

For frontman Kenny Vasoli, pop-punk is in the band’s past.

“”We definitely used to be a pop-punk band,”” Vasoli said. “”I like to think we’re more than that these days.””

The Starting Line’s latest album, Direction, still features the stereotypically catchy and chorus-heavy pop-punk sound, but the band is noticeably more mature. Its cohesiveness and sound quality is a complete step up compared to previous releases.

“”We really believe it’s our most put-together record,”” Vasoli said.

While Direction could be their best album, many fans and other listeners have only heard The Starting Line’s first record, the obviously pop-punk Say It Like You Mean It.

“”We’re older and have gone through a lot,”” Vasoli said, adding that he encourages fans to discover the band’s new music.

The Starting Line had the chance to share its new sound with fans all around the country this summer on the annual Vans Warped Tour.

“”We always try to do our best and stand out,”” Vasoli said. “”We show a lot of enthusiasm and use 100 percent of our energy.””

Apparently, their technique has worked. Fellow Warped Tour bands have approached Vasoli telling him that The Starting Line has been an inspiration to them.

On the other end of the spectrum, Vasoli recounts one of the band’s worst performances ever: an 11 a.m. performance at the Best Buy corporate headquarters.

“”People were in no mood to hear loud music during lunch,”” Vasoli joked.

Corporate execs clearly aren’t typical fans of The Starting Line. Vasoli said that a typical fan is usually around 18 years old and “”fairly emotional.””

As The Starting Line continues to rack up new fans on the road, members are noticing more and more respect coming their way, Vasoli said.

“”In the beginning we had to work extra hard to prove ourselves to the older generation of bands,”” he said. “”It’s cool to be on the flipside of that now.””