The Veronicas

Fri., July 17, 7 p.m., $15-$18, with Carney, TLA, 334 South St., 215-922-1011, livenation.com.

by K. Ross Hoffman

rock/pop

The last time The Veronicas were scheduled to play Philly, opening a floundering Ashlee Simpson tour three summers back, they pulled out last-minute due to medical issues with one of the Origliasso twins' vocal cords. Which should come as no surprise to anyone who's heard the way these Australian sisters sing: Their furiously impassioned double-barred wail conveys the breathless urgency of adolescent angst and desire perhaps better than any other sound this decade. Those histrionic harmonies helped set the full-throttle pop-punk of their 2006 debut apart from the post-Kelly Clarkson bubblegum-confessional pack, and they're just as compelling framed by the spiky electro-pop of sophomore set Hook Me Up (sadly rejected working title: Overdramatic), which finally got its delayed U.S. release last year but has remained woefully undersung. Here's hoping the twins' triumphant return to our shores this summer changes that: "Undersung" simply doesn't belong in the Veronicas' vocabulary.