In the dying days of the 1970s, a bunch of funny looking kids --tired of the bloated spectacle of disco and rock and disillusioned with post-Watergate government -- led a political charge with nothing but an electric guitar and a few strategically placed safety pins.

The Sex Pistols sang God Save the Queen with acid-tinged sarcasm and the Dead Kennedys defamed then-governor Ronald Reagan in California Uber Alles. But punk rock's popular resurgence in the mid-'90s has forgotten its political roots

Jason Navarro of Detroit's The Suicide Machines is trying to change that.

"We have a vehicle to get a message out there. That's just what we're about. Lyrically, we like to make people think and a lot of the motivation behind that is because a lot of bands don't," says Navarro from a tour stop in London, Ont. "I'm sure there are a lot of people who don't listen to our lyrics. But there are those few people who do."

The Suicide Machines, with opening act Buck-O-Nine, will be bringing their guitar-fuelled politics to Barrymore's tonight.

Navarro -- whose family worked in (and were occasionally laid off from) Detroit's auto industry -- developed his strong political views from both his factory-working relatives and his fellow punks.

"The scene I grew up in was very political. It wasn't just get drunk and go to a punk show. A lot of the bands I listened to had things to say," says Navarro. "It interested me in a lot of other things. I started reading a lot and paying attention to the news."

That interest translated into extremely literate lyrics which disseminate a message that racism, sexism and homophobia are wrong and must be stopped. They also have a strong pro-environmental bent which Navarro says is a result of the high pollution levels in his city.

The band's politics were tested in 1996 when, after struggling on independent labels for years, they got offered a deal with Hollywood Records -- a subsidiary of Disney.

"Of course, there's the moral dilemma of: 'Oh man, we're on a major label.' Especially Disney, they're beyond belief. They own so much it's unbelievable," says Navarro. "Some people almost think it's hypocritical. But I look at it this way -- it's almost like using the system against the system."

Their first record on the label, Destruction By Definition, has sold almost 200,000 copies and their latest, Battle Hymns, has sold more than 60,000 since it's release in April.

Not ones to sit on their laurels, the band will begin work on a new album once this tour wraps up.

"We don't really claim any religion or political side," says Navarro. "What we claim is to question everything -- tear it apart. I'm not saying that's an anarchist view whatsoever because I even question that. I just try and think for myself the best I can."