Too Much Spunk, Even for Punk?

“Complacency” and “comfort” don’t often crop up on the list of criticisms leveled against punk rock. But according to the lead singer and guitarist of Rocket From the Crypt--an emerging San Diego-based punk sextet--that’s exactly what’s wrong with today’s punk.

“We’re part of a generation that’s being targeted and marketed for instant nostalgia, and we’re buying into it,” said John “Speedo” Reis during a phone interview from his hotel room in St. Louis.

“People [are] reverting to their childhoods because maybe they’re not happy with their own lives now,” he said. “So they look back to this pseudo-past with a certain amount of safety and security.

“Man, bands like the Sex Pistols were amazing innovators, but today, there’s no variety with all of these bands sounding the same--or they try to be a carbon copy of punk nearly 20 years ago. Right now, I just don’t see enough of that independent spirit and drive that really inspired the genre in the first place.”

Reis and his bandmates--guitarist N.D., bassist Petey X, drummer Atom, trumpeter J.C. 2000 and saxophonist Apollo 9--want no part of any retro scene.

Spawned in 1989, the group has graduated from the thrashing, hard-and-fast style of its numerous, independently released CDs and 7-inch vinyl records to the varied but still raucous sounds of its 1995 major-label debut on Interscope Records, “Scream Dracula Scream!”

What makes RFTC such a compelling force is a desire to defy expectations with such elements as a horn section, which, Speedo argues, is as natural to rock music as the electric guitar.

So why do some hard-core punk purists scoff?

“I really don’t understand this one-sided attitude that some fans have, like it’s taboo for a punk-rock band to harmonize or incorporate brass in their sound,” he said.

“We continually try to mix large arrangements with an idea or song that is primal, raw and simplistic,” he said. “I think a lot of early rock ‘n’ roll--like the Drifters and some Buddy Holly stuff--was that way too. The horns for us make complete sense.”

“Scream, Dracula, Scream!” employs not only horns, but also such other nontraditional punk elements as strings, glockenspiel, tubular bells and catchy choruses.

Attentive listeners can even uncover traces of rockabilly and pop. Along with scorching guitars and Speedo’s coarse, explosive vocals, it’s a potent mix.

From the primal fury of “Born in ‘69” and “On a Rope” to the subtler, varied textures of the thought-provoking “Salt Future,” the album is an impressive major-label debut.

In fact, “Scream” nearly went one step beyond the unexpected with an 11-piece string section that played lush orchestral passages in place of the usual silence between album tracks. These parts, however, were omitted from the final release.

“We were quite ambitious and wanted to link the album together and have it flow like one big body of music,” said Reis, whose influences run from Black Sabbath and Pere Ubu to Jeff Lynne and James Brown.

“In the end, though, it wound up detracting from the songs, so we didn’t use them,” he said. “But that doesn’t mean we won’t in the future.”

Hooking up with Interscope hasn’t been a problem for Reis, despite the stereotype that major labels represent the antithesis of the punk-rock ethic.

“The only drawback for us is a few more layers [of record company personnel] to go through, but quite frankly, Interscope has the resources, including money, to properly promote us . . . and seeing our CD in all the record stores doesn’t hurt, either,” he said. (For its most devoted followers, the band simultaneously released a vinyl-only LP titled “Hot Charity,” on its own label. The nine-song collection captures the band’s grittier, one-note raggedness.)

Currently touring as the middle act on an all-punk bill with Rancid and U.S. Bombs--with a date at Chapman University in Orange tonight--RFTC has opened for more musically diverse performers, including Sun Ra, the Misfits and James Brown.

Do these bands have any similarities?

“Maybe not so much in terms of styles, but I think we all want to create music that is fresh and inspiring to our audiences,” Reis said. “I look at it as a fan in the sense that if I’m gonna listen to three bands, I don’t want them to all sound the same. So it’s a good way of experiencing new things.”

* Rancid, Rocket From the Crypt and U.S. Bombs play tonight at Chapman University, Hutton Sports Center, 333 N. Glassell St., Orange. 8 p.m. $12, benefits Mary’s Kitchen, a food bank and homeless center in Orange. (714) 744-7950.