A shipwreck in the blog.

Hello, I'm Alternative Press music editor Scott Heisel and welcome to the ninth installment of Positive Jams, your guide to the best (and the rest) of the week's new music as selected by yours truly. Let's get to it!

IF YOU BUY ONE THING TODAY, PLEASE LET IT BE:

Silverstein's A Shipwreck In The Sand
THE SCOOP: Silverstein have always gotten a bad rap with the punker-than-thous. Sure, frontman Shane Told might have impeccably flattened hair, but half of this band wears jean shorts onstage -- and there is nothing less scene than jorts. The band's fourth proper LP finds them diving deeper into their metal and hardcore influences with the help of Cancer Bats' Liam Cormier ("Vices") and Scott Wade, formerly of Comeback Kid ("Born Dead"), with a heady lyrical concept that at times makes the disc sound like Boys Night Out's Trainwreck ("A Shipwreck In The Sand"). Seriously, this band gets better and better with each release -- people need to start taking them seriously.
CRUCIAL JAMS: "Vices," "Broken Stars," "We Are Not The World," "I Knew I Couldn't Trust You"
BUY IT NOW: Amazon (physical), (digital)

GOT MORE CASH? SNAG THIS NEXT:

Peter Bjorn And John's Living Thing
THE SCOOP: Yes, they were the whistling band (and if you still haven't heard "Young Folks," you're blowing it because it's one of the most ubiquitous indie-rock singles of the decade that's actually enjoyable) and yes, their initials double as an abbreviation for peanut butter and jelly (or, alternately, Pam Beesly and Jim). But they prove with their fifth(!) album that they're no one-hit wonder. Living Thing is danceable without sounding trite, with plenty of minimalist instrumentation underneath some pretty adorable Swedish accents. Vampire Weekend-esque Afropop shows up occasionally ("Living Thing"), and there's even a subtle hip-hop influence ("Nothing To Worry About"). Of course, Pitchfork gave it a 5.5/10, which means it's actually more like a 7.9. Hipsters gotta hate something...
CRUCIAL JAMS: "It Don't Move Me," "Nothing To Worry About," "Lay It Down," "I Want You!"
BUY IT NOW: Amazon (physical), (digital)

HEY MAN, NICE CASH-IN:

Filter's The Very Best Things (1995-2008)
THE SCOOP: You know what's sad? Click on the link in the band name above. Filter have sold more than two million records in the U.S. alone, and they can't even get "filter" as their MySpace URL -- they had to go with "filter1." That just about sums up the inconsequential nature of this greatest-hits set. Honestly, who out there can name more than two Filter songs off the top of their head (those two obviously being "Hey Man, Nice Shot" and "Take A Picture")? I think everyone in the AP office who still listens to Filter (essentially Tim and Jason) would tell you to buy Short Bus instead.
CRUCIAL JAMS: "Hey Man, Nice Shot" is still a total jam, even though it's been Jock Jammed into oblivion
BUY IT NOW: Amazon (physical), (digital)

ALSO OUT TODAY: Impending Doom's The Serpent Servant, Strung Out's Prototypes & Painkillers, Death Cab For Cutie's The Open Door EP, Great Lake Swimmers' Lost Channels, In The Red's Volume 2, Pansy Division's That's So Gay, Yeah Yeah Yeahs' It's Blitz!, Vice On Victory's Glitter & Gold

What did you buy today? Leave a comment and tell us!