S.T.U.N.

At some point in the early ‘90s, the political side of punk music was replaced with incessant high school nattering about booze, bad behaviour and girls. The role of intellectual rabble-rouser was taken over (well, really, the dropped ball was picked up) by the rap-core bands that were surfacing at the same time. S.T.U.N. (Scream Toward the Uprising of Non-Conformity) is trying to push that role back over the line into the punk world with their Geffen/Universal debut Evolution of Energy. The band does not have a pure punk sound. They sound more like a blender drink with the Runaways, Rage Against the Machine, the Who and a dash of ’80s hair metal like L.A Guns and Faster Pussycat for ingredients. But they have the message and the attitude of the formative punk era of the late ’60s and early ’70s. Their sound is fun yet thought provoking. Guitarist Neil Spies uses simple chord structure on all the songs but particularly "Boredom,” making them easy to follow. Vocalist Christiane J. sings of corruption, chaos and extra terrestrial revolution. The chanting feel of the chorus on "Annihilation of the Generation” should have no trouble finding a place on the sporting event anthem rotation. Evolution of Energy is an impressive album.