In his song, "Cancer," Joe Jackson ran through a laundry list of all the minute things in life that eventually will end your life, from protein and caffeine to booze and nicotine, from working too hard to working too little, from watching television to even just smiling. His tongue-in-cheek point was that something's gonna kill you sometime, and it's not worth your time or energy trying to stop it - he even admonishes planning for the grave.

Punk band Warning: Danger! have taken this concept to its extreme, building their band into the nonstop bearers of bad news and cautionary tales. They craft punk rock PSA's about all of the dangerous things that lie in wait to kill or maim you. At their most hilariously downbeat, they even have a song about ankylosing spondylitis: a chronic, genetic, incurable spinal disease.

Gee, thanks for the warning.

For a band that dresses up in hard hats and neon orange vests and sings songs about the dangers of swine flu, safe sex and acid rain, Warning: Danger!'s origin was surprisingly spontaneous.

"It started as a film project, all because I got this giant crack in my windshield," says vocalist Mark Ostler. "I was going to have to get my windshield replaced anyways, so why not take it out in grand fashion on screen, and get a bunch of cameras for it? ... I got some band friends of mine to get together, and I said, ‘OK, guys, I'm gonna need ending credit music for this film I got coming up.' We wrote the song that was going to be the end credit music - which was called ‘Holly Flips' - and then we wrote a second song, and we were just gonna release a seven and that's it."

But, while the film ended up getting put on the back burner, Ostler's impromptu band stuck around.

"The initial film project crapped out on us, but the band project took off," says Ostler. "And then, believe it or not, three years later and two albums later, we actually made the movie that was intended for the band."

This is all very well and good, but it doesn't quite explain Warning: Danger!'s preoccupation with death, mayhem, and safety precautions.

"You know, I'm not sure (where that comes from)," says Ostler. "I just tell my friends to riff and jam, and then I would come up with lyrics, and all of my lyrics turned out like little warnings, and Godzilla and avalanche-related. A friend of mine said, ‘Gee, Mark, all of your songs are all about danger.'  That's how it came out, so we just ran with it."

For a gimmick that was unintentionally stumbled upon, Warning: Danger! sure are thorough with the ground they cover. This sampling of songs should give you an idea of the various perils about which the bands wishes to warn you: "Cougar Attack," "Fire Ants," "Truckstop Toilet Paper," "Fasten Your Seatbelt," "Rats," "Broke Bottle Top," and "Whiskey Dick."

Less likely situations to be concerned about, but still worthy of warning, are Warning: Danger!'s scenarios involving robots, zombies, and killer clowns. In between cautionary tales, the band takes divergences into rants about whether or not Pluto is a planet (it should be, they say) and what raves are like (dumb, they say).

All of these sentiments are delivered with the sort declamatory, high energy punk that brings to mind weirdos like the Dead Kennedys and Devo - all scrappy, nerdy rushes of two-minute-or-less punk explosions. It' unclear whether Warning: Danger! seriously think that death and destruction looms around every corner, but sometimes it's fun to think like that, especially when you get a good nervous soundtrack.

Harmon Taproom Underground, w/ Goat, Ninja Kat, Aug. 16, 8 p.m., $5, 204 St. Helens, Tacoma, 253.212.2725