(Hed) P.E.

Ladies and gentleman, start your SoCal punk and rap-rock engines. Orange County punk rockers (hed) p.e. are kicking off their 2009 tour in Tempe a day after their new album, New World Orphans, hits the shelves. Now, I know what you’re thinking: “What does the ‘p.e.’ stand for?” Perhaps it’s “physical education,” although I doubt many members of the band cared for that particular class in high school. I promise to reveal the not-so secret meaning of “p.e.” at the end of this piece. Originators of a style they like to call “G-Punk,” (hed) p.e. prefers a rather nice mix of white-dude dreadlocks and flat-brimmed baseball caps — you know, the style popularized by many of Southern California’s skateboarding youngsters. (hed) p.e. is mostly like the only band that can lay claim to mixing punk with hip-hop, two styles that usually don’t sit next to each other in the lunchroom. Wednesday’s show is sure to be a testament to the band’s resilience, being able to keep alive the rap-rock genre that many felt died when Limp Bizkit reluctantly called it quits, depriving Planet Earth — yes, that’s what the “p.e.” stands for — of its douchiest band.