Rocket From the Crypt Puts Energy in Rebellious Evening

For veteran San Diego punk band Rocket From the Crypt, the more things change, the more they stay the same. That was obvious Thursday at the sold-out El Rey Theatre, where the group capped a program of old-fashioned fury also featuring Boston punkers the Explosion and Swedish political garage-rockers the (International) Noise Conspiracy.

Rocket From the Crypt’s commitment to pounding out rebellious, kinda gothic, high-energy music has never wavered, and while many songs Thursday had a hedonistic swagger, the mood shifted occasionally with more melodic numbers such as the buzzing, defiantly vulnerable “S.O.S.” You couldn’t really understand the words, but the driving tempo and singer-guitarist John “Speedo” Reis’ tent-revival style made the messages clear.

The (International) Noise Conspiracy--four men and one woman wearing matching, buttoned-to-the-neck jean jackets and black pants--offered dynamic testimony to the enduring appeal and urgency of political punk. Leaping about in front of a giant banner that screamed, “Are We Content With Slavery?” they played melodic-to-discordant protest songs about global economics and more.

Ironically, being dressed alike and fashionably shaggy-headed in this day and age made them look like a Gap ad, but there was no mistaking their highly political messages for any sort of commercial product.