HARD-CORE WITH HEART

“I DON’T WANT TO GROW UP.” Descendents. New Alliance. “WONDERFUL,” Circle Jerks. Combat Core. At their raucous best, these two local punk bands project humor, punch and keen observations. They’re living proof that hard-core is not simply a platform for nihilism and bad taste.

The Descendents are one of the most underrated local bands of any genre. On its new LP, the recently re-formed South Bay quartet has further developed its pop sensibilities, resulting in a marvelous mix of punk-pop that sounds a little like a junior Husker Du. While the first side is dominated by a less accessible brand of shout-it-out speed-rock, that side’s “Can’t Go Back” and the entire second side toss in sharp melodies and a few sprightly harmonies to the buzz-saw delivery.

If the Descendents have a star, it’s drummer Billy Stevenson, the creative spark behind the majority of these pop-rock gems. He was also the songwriter who did such a stellar job of saluting life’s gastronomical joys on the Descendents’ 1981 “Fat EP.”

The Circle Jerks will probably never make another album with the power and passion of their landmark 1981 LP “Group Sex.” But in “Wonderful,” the quartet’s sardonic humor and social concern are very much intact. The title track, a funny jab at mindless optimism, employs the Las Palmas-La Canada Children’s Choir to back the Jerks’ careening punk-metal chaos.

Like Black Flag, the Jerks have absorbed some heavy-metal qualities. Unlike Black Flag, they’ve had the sense to take after the power-chord delivery of AC/DC instead of the tortured sludge of early Black Sabbath. The new rhythm team of bassist Zander Schloss and drummer Keith Clark lends tight support to the slower, more heavy metal-ish tunes. “Wonderful” isn’t prime Jerks, but it’s good enough.