Bubbling under the suburban, white picket fences of Ocean County, New Jersey comes STEM, a four piece groove core outfit that is one part poetic beauty and 100% reality.

STEM's debut release on Ignition Records, "Forever Up", is an urgent slab of the truth, a subject explored deeply in singer Ocean's (born Jai messina) lyrics. Hip-Hop beats, punk rock bass lines, liquid lyrics (which is why Messina refers to himself as "Ocean"), and raging guitar explode all over "Forever Up". From the explosive drumming in "Pinch" to the Rage Against The Machine meets the Deftones anger of "Drop The Bomb", STEM goes for your jugular but doesn't cut off the oxygen flow to your brain. Even the title suggests being true to yourself and expanding your mind. Ocean describes "Forever Up" as taking your life into your hands and "excelling it to the fullest".

Produced by Chris Gibson (Quicksand, CIV, American Standard), "Forever Up" has a gritty feel to it that harkens back to early Bad Brains records.

STEM formed only a year and a half ago out of the ashes of several shore bands. Guitarist Skat, bassist Bill Kellar, and drummer Edd Allen had been jamming together when they united with singer Ocean, a veteran scene musician who had been primarily known as a drummer. Skat had cut his teeth in hardcore bands, and Kellar and Allen had been known around the shore as a fierce rhythm rection as part of Panface. It was when Ocean's talents as a vocalist became evident that the seeds of STEM were sown.

"Basically I had just been hanging out with friends on the streets, throwing rhymes at each other," Ocean explained. "My rhymes are basically about the Earth and certain situations, and Buddhism. To put it as bluntly as I can, my rhymes are about opening your mind. I don't like close minded people".

Ocean's lyrics are all about being true to yourself and avoiding conformity. In "Pressure Fit", for example, Ocean rhymes "Set back too long/I can't be strong/wired away from the season/I'll betray in a way for a while/I'll come back and realize the suits of the skies/shock- my friends all lie/grabbin through the fill is never ever full/as I pull myself further into crush/more than any rush". Not fitting in haunted Ocean his entire life, bouncing all over the place until he eventually graduated from an alternative school.

"Before it was cool to be a freak, I was a freak", he said.

Ironically, it was this very nature that landed STEM a deal with Ignition Records. STEM had been making waves opening for bands like Helmet and the Deftones, and it wasn't long before the band came to the attention of the record label.

And the STEM story continues. At Foundations Forum, Ocean was invited onstage to rap with the Long Beach Dub All Stars (the remaining members of Sublime) in front of 3,000 people. The band is actively touring in support of this stellar debut EP. STEM's future is looking "Forever Up".