Not to tell Punk Globe’s readers about Mean Jeans would be, at this point, just plain wrong. By “at this point,” I mean, now that the threesome’s dropped On Mars; not only following up Are You Serious? - their high-energy 2009 debut - but showing that they’re sticking around for a while. That they’re dedicated to three-chord punk rock, bratty chants, and brassy, slightly distorted power chords. What’s not to like about a band centered around a guy named Jeans Wilder?

The fave quote JW put on his Facebook page: "If Anne Frank knew this many people read her diary, she'd be sooooooo pissssed" throws some light on my tendency to avoid covering musicians in my burg – Archie-comic-funny as some may find that quote, there’s an underlying conservatism in San Diego (as in, clinging to a socioeconomic status quo, not as in conserving the environment, or human rights) which sometimes drifts over into the arts here. I’m not always in concert with this type of snarkiness. To give a contrasting example, I used to write and perform with an intellectually outrageous crew in NYC, the Neophobes (formerly The Unbearable Poets), about 30 people who managed to rock the cultural boat with hilarity, without doing it at the expense of a doomed, ethnically profiled teenage girl.

But what, say you who care naught for any such concerns, about Mean Jeans? They rock. And rock. And rock. A lot of their music’s based on the Ramones’ simple guidebook; which can get kind of repetitive and mind-numbing without the Ramones’ sweetness, spontaneity, and the freshness that accompanied the sound when they did it for, basically, the first time in history. MJs change it up some with On Mars, which has some nice power-poppy writing and harmonies, occasionally drifting into Weezer-land. In any case, MJs shows are fun, especially if you’re under 35 and have never experienced any other live, punkish rock. But, hey, decide for yourself: http://jeanswilder.bandcamp.com