Baltimore's SR-71, named for the fastest aircraft everconstructed, seemingly surfaced into the limelight from nowhere when "RightNow," the first single from their RCA Records debut album "Now You SeeInside," started to become popular.

SR-71 offers crisp, refreshingpop-punk; the pop component is the mellow tone in many of their songs and thecatchy melodies, the punk aspect includes limited messages of anti-conformity andoccasional heaviness in riffage. SR-71 remains melodic even in its punk moments,and never makes intolerable punk "noise," but moshpits always start attheir concerts, to the dismay of security guards at smaller venues.

Thefirst two tracks are by far the most punk. "Po-litically Correct" has amessage of anti-conformity and impending doom because we do not consider ouractions. According to the song, political correctness restrains us from reachingour potential and using our imagination. "We're so impressing/while we'reregressing," sings vocalist and guitarist Mitch Allan. The othercharacteristically pop-punk song is the dynamic "Right Now." A typicalmodern anti-love song, it is very catchy, despite following the formula for apop-punk mainstream hit: sing the lyrics, play melodic punk, have an instrumentalmelody follow the repeated chorus, slow down and emphasize the chorus. This hasbeen very successful for other bands, such as Blink 182's "Adam's Song"and Lit's "Miserable."

"Fame (What She's Wanting)" isthe only other song that borders on pop-punk; it criticizes a girl who lustsafter someone famous, despite the possibility that he might just be "adisposable pop star." Most songs, however, offer smooth and fun sing-alongpop-rock, such as "Last Man on the Moon" and "Another NightAlone," despite their moderate pessimism. Some songs have a slow pace, suchas "Paul McCartney," which features many guest musicians and adulatesone of the band's inspirations.

The album is titled appropriately, assongs such as "What a Mess" and "Non-Toxic" truly allowlisteners to see inside Allan, the chief lyricist. Another interesting track is"Alive," which is acoustic for the most part, except in the chorus andaccompanying verses. At the beginning, listeners hear a love song in which thesubject merely wants a little privacy, but we later discover she kicks out herboyfriend. Finally, the song most likely to appear in a commercial for a genericteen TV series is "Empty Spaces," with its chorus asking for a secondchance.

I hope SR-71 will be more successful in receiving attention thanthe one-hit-wonder pop-rock acts with whom they are associated. Their slightlypunk edge helps them stand out, and they can be a great pop-punk band, even ifformulated. Their lyrics are interesting, as are their catchy melodies. Theyprobably will not be the fastest band to fly into mainstream success in the nearfuture, but they will accomplish much in due time.