CD Leaves No Question Who These Guys Are

The answer to the album’s title: still the champion of the local grass-roots punk-pop scene, but this time by a decision, not a knockout.

While it isn’t exceptional, like the band’s early singles and EPs (which were collected on a compilation CD) or a consistently good marriage of melody and aggression, like last year’s “Outfall” album, “Who the Hell . . . “ at least manages, with a late rally, to rescue itself from being a second-rate effort by a first-rate band. Along the way, it offers an object lesson in the importance of soulfulness in music, even punk rock.

Through most of its magical past, One Hit Wonder had married some of the catchiest tunes with some of the most ignited playing, but what made the band special was its songwriters’ knack of making everything sound personal--even when the subject matter was environmental ruin (“Where’s the World”) or watching the L.A. riots on TV (“Therapy Lounge”).

A chunk of “Who the Hell . . . “ comes off as routine, sardonic punk-rock commentary, high-speed punditry that swipes at an object of ire or disdain, with no personal stake in the matter.

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On songs such as “Idiot,” a commonplace knock at a selfish junkie (is there, ultimately, any other kind?) and “Whiners and Losers,” a slap at groups and individuals who exploit their own perceived victimization, front man Dan Root’s tuneful bark sounds yeomanly, not inspired, like a political campaigner who’s been delivering the same stump speech too long. And the arrangements too often fall into undifferentiated chugging and thrashing.

Of the first nine tracks, only three or four rise somewhat above the usual punk-pop stuff. “Four Letter Word” is a rousing pep talk in which Root becomes a coach ordering an injured player in the game of life to get off the bench and back into the fray.

“Your Gone,” co-written by Root and guitarist Trey Pangborn, gets some spin from a ska rhythm that works nicely alongside a punk-pop anthem surge, and a cover of the Beach Boys’ version of the folk song “Sloop John B.” gets up a serviceable head of steam. (With an indefatigable drummer, Chris Webb, on hand, now joined by new bassist Daniel Gadberry, OHW never has any trouble packing a punch.)

The five-song home stretch saves the day, as OHW remembers to sing and write from the heart, and not just from the observing intellect.

“Everything” runs winningly counter to chronic punk dyspepsia and confusion: even as the music rushes ahead, a wonder-struck Root pauses to smell the roses, realizing that his life has purpose and makes sense.

He’s experienced and cautious enough to know that confusion still lurks in the shadows--”Tomorrow everything could change”--and, in a charming touch, he’s honest enough to admit he isn’t completely reformed: “I used to think that money could solve everything / OK, who am I kidding? I still do. . . .”

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Where the album’s earlier going offered arrangements too linear and uneventful, “Everything” gets a lift by pouring on the Beach Boys harmonies more prominently than on the Beach Boys cover.

“Simple Life,” which pines for the satisfaction portrayed in “Everything,” takes a nice rhythmic turnabout with a guitar riff recalling Aerosmith’s “Sweet Emotion.”

With “15 & Punk,” writer Pangborn offers a sad gloss on the Social Distortion nugget “Mommy’s Little Monster.” In SD’s romantic vision of punk youth from 1983, a teen-aged groupie takes her knocks but is part of an embracing community of kids. Here, she’s simply a disposable sexual device.

OHW saves the two best for last. “Pop Song No. 13” is a marvelous and moving love song, with the caveat that its hook sounds a lot like “Why Worry?” by 22 Jacks. Root expresses a mature love seldom encountered in hard rock.

It’s built on deep admiration for how his partner endures life’s knocks with grace, and a willingness to ride out the times when it becomes too much for her to handle them quite so gracefully:

Go ahead and start yelling

I’m not gonna run away

I’ll be right here just listening

Vent frustration in my face . . .

There’s no place I’d rather be

“Freedom ‘n’ Drinking” closes the CD with a warmly robust Celtic-punk ode to an enduring fellowship of friends that sails on beyond the shoals of their misspent youth. Big Country’s stately bagpipe guitars and the Pogues’ speeding, drunken froth are nicked merrily.

On songs like these that obviously sit close to its heart, One Hit Wonder shows who the hell it--or just about any band--ought to be.

* One Hit Wonder, SNFU, El Centro and Jumbo Size play Tuesday at Club Mesa, 843 W. 19th St., Costa Mesa. $7. 9 p.m. (714) 642-8448. One Hit Wonder also plays Nov. 7 with the Tiki Tones and Slender at Linda’s Doll Hut, 107 S. Adams St., Anaheim. 9 p.m. $6. (714) 533-1286.

Albums are rated on a scale of * (poor) to **** (excellent), with *** denoting a solid recommendation.