Standout Track:

“Good Morning Sentry,” a bratty pop-punk ode to security guards. “If you close your eyes/It will be our demise/Stay alert and strong/All night long,” sings guitarist/vocalist Ronald Soltes. If Paul Blart: Mall Cop can clean up at the box office, surely this song, with its crunchy chords and shouted vocals, can find an audience.

Musical Motivation:

According to Soltes, a 28-year-old Spanish major at George Mason University, the song has its roots in an inside joke. And, like most inside jokes, you maybe had to be there. “My brother, he’s a security guard on an Army base,” says Soltes. “One morning this old lady drove up, she sees him, and she says, ‘Good morning, sentry!’ He just thought it was funny because nobody has called a guard that for, like, 200 years.”

Playing with Madness:

Nunchucks may sound peppy, but the specter of metal-style heaviness lurks just beneath the surface. The evidence: the band originally called itself Nemesis Enforcer, a name taken from the brawny and winged bad-guy from GI Joe: The Movie. Also, they use guitarmony. When the band’s keyboard player left two years ago, Soltes wasted no time switching John Bevans over to lead guitar. “Now it’s more like Iron Maiden, even though our sound obviously isn’t as heavy as Iron Maiden,” he says.