As long as there are kids and parents, there will be authority and rebellion, and as long as there is authority and rebellion, there will be punk or something like it.

If you define punk broadly, as music that symbolizes youthful rebellion, then jazz was punk in its day and Elvis and Jerry Lee Lewis in theirs.

But jazz has long since gone highbrow, while rock-and-roll became an object of nostalgia hardly two decades after its invention. New generations may discover and appreciate those forms, but they don't adopt them in large numbers. So one may justifiably wonder why the loud, high-speed, often angry form of rock created in the 1970s by bands like the Sex Pistols and the Buzzcocks is still vibrant and popular today.

It's not old punk fans from back in the day filling the clubs to see bands like The Explosion, who played Jan. 5 on a bill with Rise Against at BB King's in New York City. It's today's teenagers and college kids on the floor, pointing their fingers, jumping up on stage and smothering lead singer Matt Hock in bear hugs.

The Explosion is a 21st century punk band that seems to be approaching the top of its game. While clearly inspired by the Buzzcocks and others, their intelligent, self-aware lyrics make it clear that they appreciate the wider picture of where punk - as defined by sound - fits both in music history and in the context of youthful rebellion.

For one thing, the band is politically outspoken, as in their protest song "Atrocity":

I try to sleep, I grit my teeth,

I'm so afraid, what will tomrrow bring?

I won't fight in any wars

and I can't stand to see much more atrocity

"No Revolution" seems to blame apathy on existential doubt, and is worth quoting at length:

When the blood was red and the lies were black and white

They put their hands together they thought they had the right

We know they made mistakes but we still imitate

Keep the spirit alive when there's nothing left at stake

Now our heroes seem further away

Your fists in the air but nothing has changed

Would they shake their heads would they feel ashamed

Fists in the air for a fucking name

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