Time In Malta.

THE GUYS IN TIME IN MALTA ARE BORED. AT LEAST they should be. Sitting around Tucson, Arizona, the evening's show had been cancelled when the promoter suggested that there was a structural problem at the club they planned to play at. "The promoter called and says that one of the walls had collapsed and they couldn't move the venue at the last minute," explains guitarist Chris Lyon. But the promoter's story, apparently, didn't hold up when the band, which includes drummer Sander Leech and bassist/vocalist Todd Gullion, went over to the club where Tango Night was in full swing. "At least come up with something that is somewhat legitimate," Lyon says with a good-hearted laugh.

But Time In Malta doesn't have a lot to gripe about. While seemingly one of those bands you've heard of but never really heard (they've been included in a series of comps, released one 7" and one EP) the San Francisco three-piece have been crisscrossing America (with Jesse Hayes to play bass for Guilion) in support of their debut LP, A Second Engine.

Gullion, Leech, and Lyon are all initially from Indianapolis--their version of Malta, the Mediterranean island that served as the 98-pound weakling for bomb-happy Axis forces during World War II. Each individually moved to the Bay Area in the mid-'90s, forming their power trio about four years ago. "Indianapolis is sort of like a reference for a time in Hell or the eye of the storm," says Lyon, obviously pulling no punches.

Musically, the band doesn't quite have a shtick. Rather, they flirt within a spectrum of aesthetics, sliding from Ebullition-style screamcore into a driving, melodic post-hardcore a Id Quicksand, to easy-breezy indie rock. With an extensive palate, the band has had the opportunity to hopscotch scenes a bit, playing "tons" of crust shows and hardcore festivals, as well as an assortment of pop punk and indie rock shows. "We intentionally try to break things up, taking the listener on a ride rather than pummeling people with one thing the whole time," says Chris. It's very classic rock, very Led Zeppelin, he points out. "If you do one thing too much, people get numb to it. And we get numb to it. After eight or nine heavy songs, the lath heavy song just isn't going to have the same effect."

Additionally, Time In Malta is willing to take on some of the responsibility for upholding punk's political heritage, of particular importance given the world's socio-political climate has collided with the notion of personal politics since last September. While a far cry from the more politically active punk and hardcore bands of the past (OK, a very far cry), on tracks like "This is Our Voice" and "Against the Tide," they appear to be willing to stick their necks out from under the safe haven of 'personal politics' to make a statement. "Punk hasn't shown up from a discourse perspective," says Gullion. "I would expect punk to have more to say."

The scene's unwillingness to speak up, particularly at a time when political music is making headlines through the likes of Bruce Springsteen and Steve Earle, has given Gullion and his bandmates reason to pause and reconsider where punk sits within the cultural zeitgeist. "Maybe it's indicative of the prosperity in America. While everyone is rolling in money, whether you are punk rock and getting signed or not--I don't think people want to complain when they are comfortable. I mean, why would you? I think punk rock became a little more apolitical 'cause of that social aspect and because I think there was a really militant PC movement in the mid- to late-'90s that moved through."

With the halcyon days of the booming economy behind us and the terrorist threat continuing to loom in front, expect more discourse from these guys. While adamant about retaining the band's humanistic perspective in its work--perhaps for fear of being perceived as preachy (which he is not)--Gullion is no doubt realistic about the place of politics in punk music. "This time of indifference might be over and it's time for a new cycle to begin." One thing's for sure, you can forget Tango Night.