Intro5pect

Although they have the gimmicky name of a third-string boy band, Orange County's Intro5pect is a surprising blend of political hardcore punk (more Crass or the Ex than Dead Kennedys or the Clash) and breakbeat electronica, almost like an American version of the genre-hopping experimentalists Chumbawamba. They're a lot more musically intense, though, both in the most straight punk songs — like "No More Time," which, except for the groovy beats in the verses, could be an old Sham 69 shoutalong rabble rouser — and the Red Rockers-like janglecore "RKN. RLL.," and also in tough, electronic hip-hop jams like "Profit Margins." As usual with this kind of political pop music, Intro5pect raises more questions than they manage to answer, but after several years of old-school political punk being ignored in favor of the likes of Rage Against the Machine and System of a Down, Intro5pect is a refreshing new direction for the genre as a whole.