Sometimes being on an independent record label can also mean being lumped into one giant genre along with the label’s other bands. In the case of Hot Rod Circuit and Vagrant Records, this has meant being pigeonholed into a whole heap of different genres.

Mike Poorman, drummer for Hot Rod Circuit, says the labeling isn’t necessarily that far off.

“A lot of the bands on the label fit into the same category,” he says. “What that category is, I guess, remains kind of unknown. So many people call it so many different things.”

And though all these different things may or may not accurately represent Hot Rod Circuit’s sound, at least one answer seems to create an umbrella big enough to cover Vagrant Records.

“I think we’re just a rock band and a lot of the other bands on the label are rock bands — the Get Up Kids, Alkaline Trio, even Dashboard [Confessional] is playing full-on rock rather than acoustic stuff now,” Poorman says. “I think we’re all rock bands and we fit into that category nicely.”

Hot Rod Circuit is bringing its brand of punk-leaning rock music to the M-Shop Friday with Tsunami Bomb and Paris, Texas.

Connecticut-based Hot Rod Circuit has been compared to other post-grunge bands like Jawbox and the Get Up Kids. The band’s latest release, “Sorry About Tomorrow” is the band’s first full-length release on Vagrant.

“Sorry About Tomorrow” is the four-piece’s third full-length album, and by melding its past offerings with a more refined sound, Hot Rod Circuit appears to have found its footing.

“I think that this record is a mixture, song-wise, of the first two records,” Poorman says. “I think it takes the best elements of the first and the second record and combines those to make this one.”

And with a lot more time and money to perfect the album, the result is an album with a higher production value. With the first album only taking two days to record and mix, and the second a mere week and a half, the extra production value achieved by having six weeks to create “Sorry About Tomorrow” has become a common observation in reviews.

“When I hear that from people or when I read that review or whatnot, I always think that they’re kind of like ‘Oh well, that sucks that it’s so produced’ or whatever,” Poorman says. “But it’s not even that produced. It’s just that when you spend that much time you have time to make things the way you want them.”

The extra time spent perfecting the album has left the members of Hot Rod Circuit content — at least for the time being.

“I think this is the best record we’ve put out, and I think all of us are 100 percent proud of how this record came out,” Poorman says. “I’ve been playing in bands since I was 16 and this is the first recording I’ve ever done that I actually can say that I’m proud of everything on it.”