Back in the halcyon ’90s the local scene was festooned with emo bands and oddities that would eventually become South Florida classics. But one segment of the punk rock community that was woefully underrepresented was spikey-haired street punk a la the Exploited circa 1982.

That’s not to say that those bands didn’t exist. That’s the kicker; they did. But we rarely had any in the tri-county area. Sure, there was US Decline and eventually U. F. C., a band name whose meaning changed depending on the direction of the wind. But one or two bands can’t keep up with the demand of the underprivileged and underrepresented drunk punk crowd — c’mon, man! When New Jersey’s Blanks 77 would come to town they would play with the Beltones, a super fine band in their own right that sounded like a teenage rebellion based on Stiff Little Fingers, and that was about as crazy as it got.

Skip ahead 25 years and now we have the organizers of We Are The Punx, a contingent of capable forward thinkers who can’t get enough of the sounds of ’82. And what started as an epic one-nighter is becoming a three-day affair. That’s optimism. We Are The Punx was initially a who’s-who of local and regional favorites. This year sees numerous bands flying in — a few from very far away — to get some sun and fun, and create some nighttime madness.

The third edition includes the aforementioned Blanks 77 as well as The Ejected (London), The Erections (Tokyo), Unwanted Noise (Quebec), The Lower Class Brats (Austin), The Ghouls (Philadelphia), Who Killed Spikey Jacket (Boston), Wrekt (Nashville) and Warthog (New York). The home teams are Miami’s Deviant Burial, Antifaces and Brute, and Fort Lauderdale’s Spur and Uhu.

So, basically, Respectable Street is going to be rife with punks for three nights, and bougie denizens of Clematis will be clutching their purses in terror. They may think there’s no reason any more for punk, but there’s always a reason to break things and scream into the abyss.

We Are The Punx 3 is Friday, Saturday and Sunday, February 28-March 1 at Respectable Street in West Palm Beach. Doors open 6:30pm each night. ~ Tim Moffatt