Of 3 new acts, Saliva a standout

It was billed as a lineup of “buzz bands” by a corporate sponsor, but Tuesday’s assortment of rock at the House of Blues generated more of a low hum.

Though the club was virtually empty for Nickelback discovery Theory of a Deadman, there was a core group of followers on hand to take in Audiovent’s raw, grandiose sounds.

Memphis, Tenn.-bred Saliva, the band most worthy of the “buzz” moniker after the success of its 2001 debut album, “Every Six Seconds,” gave the room a needed shot of adrenaline, with catchy, groove-laden numbers from that album and its latest, “Back Into Your System.”

Synchronized torso-bobbing animated the black-clad quintet’s gloomy stew of rap, rock and riffs, and though the presentation wasn’t terribly original, the songs were strong and infectious, a seamless mix of passionate melody and noisy belligerence. Burly lead singer Josey Scott has a likable, tough-yet-tender charm that translates well whether he’s busting out angry raps about 9/11 or crooning about the complexities of love.