A few years ago, Fear played the Off Ramp. They had cemented their reputation as opportunist punk gay-baiters in 1980's amazing movie Decline of Western Civilization, so how fitting for them to play a former gay bar, now transformed into a gross rock scumpit. I didn't go because I figured it would suck. The few people I knew who went didn't disagree. This time around Fear were playing at the Breakroom - a little too nice for them, if you ask me.

After watching the Vaccines open for Fear, I've come up with a new theory: By 1999, the great punk rock singers are old, covered in tattoos and missing teeth. Slim, the Vaccines' singer, fit the bill. He jumped, spat, danced and slurred with a ferocious glee as the band fought to keep up. They played traditional punk (what a concept!) with heart. If punk is now just another form of rock 'n' roll, without too much pretense of originality, this was perfect punk. It rocked, looked good, sounded good and made people move. I don't know what more to expect of any kind of rock 'n' roll at this point. And did I mention his teeth?

The Vaccines set the stage for Fear to fail. Singer/bad-guy-in-B-movies Lee Ving came out and, to my disappointment, had all of his teeth. The rest of the band looked too young to be the real Fear, and also seemed to have all of their teeth. The original Fear made one of the finer records of the L.A. punk scene with 1982's The Record, and I would gladly walk miles through the snow to see that band, but this one wasn't looking too good.

And so they played. They sounded more like a decent Fear cover band which happened to have a long-haired singer who claimed to be Lee Ving. I heard a few recognizable songs, a bunch of generic thrash I'm assuming was off their second album, More Beer, and some witty between-song bantering, and I suffered through the long beer line a few times. What saved the night was that by the end, they'd played the Holy Trinity of Fear songs - "Let's Have a War," "I Don't Care About You" and "I Love Livin' in the City," punk classics every one. After the show, Lee took the time to talk to all of his fans, and seemed genuinely pleased to be there. Which was somehow sweet to me.

So, what are the lessons to be learned here? Easy: Lee Ving's nicer than he would have you believe. You should go see the Vaccines when you get the chance. Young punks everywhere should ignore dental hygiene. Reagan sucks.