Point Five

With two simultaneous wars and potential for more, rising costs of living, polarizing belief systems, distrust of authority, we are still now more than a generation away from the last major youth rebellion, and it has been fifteen years since the American culture has had more than a smattering of musical acts giving us clear social commentary in their music. However, with marches over immigration, protesting about the wars in the Middle East, and an ever increasing cultural war brewing to a boiling point between liberals and conservatives, the second half of this first decade of the millennium looks to be tumultuous, and like previous social renewals, the music is an integral part of the mood. A mood intensely captured when Point Five blasts out of the speakers as a fervent rally cry, a call to arms for those who want to see justice, who want to take a stand. The Point Five album Apathy is the Enemy is a series of easily digested editorial pieces set to pounding, smacking, teeth-clenching grooves.

Point Five is a message band, they have a purpose and an agenda, and as they let you know in the aptly titled song “Mission Statement” they are “unabashed, unafraid, unintimidated” about it. Point Five’s message is simple: Oppression will be defeated when, and only when, “the citizens” rise up and defeat it (“We can cry, we can moan, we can pitch a fit / We can bitch about corruption and all that s*** / When it’s time to take a stand we’re a little slow / But then ‘I don’t give a damn’ seems to be our motto” from the title song). These underlying themes lay the foundation for an album that touches on topics that include economic extremes, war, political manipulation, and personal and artistic responsibility. Point Five is intelligent without pretentiousness, opinionated without divisiveness, and through their intensity, they are hopeful.

Sonically, Point Five has a “palatable ferocity.” In the hot moments they explode out of the speakers, raw and relentless, reminiscent of Public Enemy at the summit of their power stewed thick with guitar-laden viciousness redolent of early Clash. In the cooler moments, Point Five simmers with a burgeoning passion that growls through gritted teeth. No matter the temperature, Point Five is never very far away from thumping, smacking, west coast-influenced funk that makes the rear view mirror in your vehicle vibrate.

Point Five’s primary objective is to tattoo the truth in the listener’s mind in a memorable fashion, tapping into the audience’s innate desire to live in a better world. There is a grass roots force out there that doesn’t believe that current social/political policies serve the best interest of the world; he/she wants global equity and justice for all (not just all Americans). Where are this market slice’s artists today? Where is this latest generation’s Clash, Public Enemy, Rage Against the Machine, or Sting? Other than a few music acts here and there, most recent attempts at social commentary have seemed calculated and shallow. A generation of younger adults is searching for a real voice and they are savvy enough to discern between the bands who merely say something and those who mean it. It is actually important to the members of Point Five that they make a difference. Point Five possesses the voice that many will openly declare expresses their internal sentiment.