Legends within our midst this week, but only for those who recognize them.

“I Think My Older Brother Used to Listen to Lagwagon.”

That’s the title of the tried and true California punk band Lagwagon’s latest album, released in the fall of 2008, also coincidentally the band’s first EP in a two-decades long career. And while this article isn’t about Lagwagon — rather its lead singer Joey Cape and his new solo album “Bridge” (a two-month tour for which kicks off in Bremerton Thursday at Winterland) — the title of the newest Lagwagon EP is still a sobering, somewhat depressing statement on the changing sonic landscape of what has sadly become a tired cliche: punk rock.

Lagwagon was the first band signed to the seminal independent punk label Fat Wreck Chords, started in 1990 in San Francisco by a guy named Fat Mike.

They released their first album “Duh” in 1992, followed soon thereafter by “Trashed” and the breakthrough “Hoss.” More than 10 albums and 17 years later, while giving a good-spirited nod to the inevitability of growing old, the title of the new EP harkens back to the days when being in a punk rock band was more about freedom than fashion.

“Ultimately when any kind of art industry is really thriving financially, it’s a little bit of a bummer,” Cape noted in an interview with What’s Up last week. “Because then you have a lot of people who are in it just for the money or to be a part of the ‘it’ crowd, or to live the good life.

“It was cool when punks were into it for the easy lifestyle, which was the free beer and girls,” he added, “just kids trying to be free.”

Ironically, the thriving finances (and rising popularity) of punk music in the late 90s helped Cape and other punkers of that era earn the freedom of paying the bills by virtue of their punk rock bands. Now, amidst the digital age and a growing global economic crisis, it’s getting even more difficult for musicians and artists across the board to survive.

Meanwhile, Cape still seems to be that kid just trying to be free — even though he’s 42 with a child of his own.

“I almost kind of welcome the fact that things have gotten really tough,” he said. “I like to think that the positive side of it is that it sort of hopefully weeds out people that weren’t all that serious, or weren’t all that passionate about it.”

“We do it because we love it,” said local punker Mike Herrera, lead singer/bassist of the Bremerton band MxPx. “If you’re not prepared to starve for your music, you probably shouldn’t even try.”

MxPx broke around the same time as Lagwagon in the early 90s. Also surviving the rise and fall of the past decade, they co-headlined a national tour together last fall. But when Cape comes through Bremerton with Jon Snodgrass (of Drag the River) for the first stop on the two-month US/Europe tour Feb. 5, Herrera’s side project, the alt/country/punk amalgamation Tumbledown, will be playing in support.

All three punk rock luminaries — Herrera, Cape and Snodgrass — have followed similar progressions from fronting punk bands (MxPx, Lagwagon and Snodgrass’ Armchair Martian) to playing in the more alt/country-vein (Tumbledown, Drag the River). Another possible sign of punk rock going the way of the buffalo.

For Cape, a punk rock poet of sorts (similar to both Herrera and Snodgrass), this solo album is more a return to his roots.

Most Lagwagon songs, he said, started with him putting a melody over top of chords on acoustic guitar, which was then transformed by the amplification and other band members’ input. “Bridge” is its own entity of organically developed, strictly acoustic songs (though a few tracks made it onto the new Lagwagon EP) recorded in the basement and representing the natural progression of a singer/songwriter.

“It’s nothing new for me,” Cape said. “It’s one of those things that’s kind of built in if you’re a songwriter. It’s all about music. If you’re a person who loves music and its what you want to do with your life, you find different ways to keep it creative and fun.”

JOEY CAPE (of Lagwagon) and JON SNODGRASS (of Drag the River) will be kicking off the two-month US/Europe tour with Tumbledown and SGFY at 9:30 p.m. Feb. 5 at Winterland, 1220 Sylvan Way in Bremerton. 21+, tickets are $10. Info: www.myspace.com/winterlandrocks, myspace.com/joeycape, myspace.com/jonsnodgrass, myspace.com/tumbledowncountry.