With all of the punk pretenders out there -- Simple Plan and Good Charlotte, I'm looking at you -- sometimes it's nice to rediscover how energizing and angry and intelligent the music can be in the right hands.

Two-decade SoCal veterans Pennywise offer that timely reminder with their latest Epitaph platter The Fuse, a ferociously melodic -- not poppy -- and crunchy collection of spitfire rock punched-up with a fistful of well-aimed social outrage and proselytizing.

No, they don't redefine the music -- or themselves, for that matter -- or add anything new to the debate about where the world's headed, or even circulate any concrete solutions other than take a look around you.

But what they do, with tracks such as the bombastic kick-off Knocked Down and the bracing guitar orgy anthem The Kids, is throw out relentlessly good punk rock.

And, even better, they do it without pandering or condescending to an audience looking for something different and, at the very least, starting to look for answers.

For them, here's hoping they discover Pennywise.

Track Listing:

1. Knocked Down
2. Yell Out
3. Competition Song
4. Take A Look Around
5. Closer
6. 6th Avenue Nightmare
7. The Kids
8. Fox TV
9. Stand Up
10. Dying
11. Disconnect
12. Premeditated Murder
13. Best I Can
14. 18 Soldiers
15. Lies