The Bridge, the debut album from the Southern California-based Letter Kills, is filled… The Bridge, the debut album from the Southern California-based Letter Kills, is filled with emotional lyrics and guttural screams from front man Matt Shelton. But don’t label them a screamo band.

“I don’t like that word,” guitarist Dustin Lovelis said, in reference to the screamo label that has been placed on his band and many bands that have made it big in recent years. “It’s a genre we don’t want to be a part of, and I don’t think it’s fair to be lumped into that particular label,” he added.

Letter Kills has been lumped into that genre because it has toured with bands predominantly in that genre (such as Story of the Year) and was helped on the way to a major label by Randy Strohmeyer of Finch.

So what does Letter Kills sound like? “We like rock ‘n’ roll and play rock music,” Lovelis said.

With inspirations that span the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s rock scene, Letter Kills has a hard-driving sound that is fueled by the guitar work of Timothy Cordova and Lovelis. With inspirational and meaningful lyrics, Letter Kills aims simply to inspire listeners.

“We want to make good music and inspire kids to start a rock band and make music that’s better than ours,” Lovelis said. “We want our album to be one of those great albums that kids are inspired by.”

As Letter Kills continues touring, they will play The Rock Club Friday as part of 105.9 the X’s Kick Ass Xmas Show with Hoobastank, and they hope to do a headlining tour so they can build their own fan base.

Standing by their strong Christian faith, the members of Letter Kills pound out the emotional and inspiring lyrics for today’s youth to enjoy without worrying what people think of their music or their approach. They just want to make good music and want kids to listen to good music.

Lovelis knows that his band makes good music but feels that everyone’s doing the same thing: waiting for something big to happen.

“Everyone’s waiting for the next Nirvana to come around,” he said.

Letter Kills might not be the next Nirvana, but hopefully they can inspire someone to be. “It’s gotta be something different,” Lovelis said. “Someone has to really do something new.”

See what Letter Kills does Friday at The Rock Club. The X’s Kick Ass Xmas Show with Letter Kills, Three Days Grace and Hoobastank starts at 8 p.m. The all-ages show costs $23. For more information, call (412) 323-1919.