Sun. Feb. 25

 This may be ironic to only us, but on the same day we chose to write about John the Baptist's head on a plate - a sculpture at the Gardner Museum - we found ourselves listening to Bayside, a punk-pop band who have a cool song called "Head on a Plate." It's from their just-released disc,"The Walking Wounded." Best line in the song: "The hipster empire of tomorrow/Will fall to the common kids of today," sings Anthony Raneri. Also: "I'm just trying to bring music back to music." A little bit of idealism and sardonicism, mixed together. Together seven years, this New York quartet landed at the top of AP's reader's choice for "Most Underrated Artist of 2006." AP itself calleld "The Walking Wounded" one of the most anticipated albums of the year. We'd say: It's a keeper, catchy, packed with melodic hooks and stacatto guitar riffs. It has a fast pulse and a beating heart and we expect they'll bring that to the stage at Axis Sunday Feb. 25 when they support Anberlin. They're third on the bill. Meg & Dia and Jonezetta open at 7 p.m. Tickets: $12.

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