Pennywise Albums (11)
What The Critics Say
Pennywise plays it safe with Reason to Believe, sticking with themes and sounds that will be familiar to fans. This is both a security and a liability -- while some listeners may find it comforting, others may be disappointed that the band didn't seek to try something new. Trading the risks of exploration for the relative safety of the routine may also explain why Pennywise shows a lack of passion here, as if the band has finally succumbed to outrage fatigue in the years following From the Ashes. It's not that the band is giving up -- they still advocate personal autonomy and fighting back against injustice and corruption -- but there's a weariness on Reason to Believe that hasn't been present on previous albums. Not only is there a lack of innovation, but there appears to be a lack of inspiration as well. Jim Lindberg's delivery lacks the passion necessary to bring Reason to Believe to life; Fletcher Dragge may strike the right chords, but his guitar work doesn't add any depth to the album. The change here is focused on attitude rather than style, with Pennywise sounding more despairing than angry or empowered. They take acerbic aim at the cult of celebrity ("The Western World"), religion ("We'll Never Know"), apathy ("You Get the Life You Choose"), and politics ("Brag, Exaggerate and Lie"), and there's a degree of cynicism that wasn't present on Pennywise's previous album, The Fuse. What Reason to Believe does share with its predecessor is an overall frenetic pace that could have benefited from the interspersion of some slower numbers. Pennywise hasn't strayed from its beliefs, but the band does seem to have changed its worldview with Reason to Believe. It's up to fans to decide what to make of this. ~ Katherine Fulton, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
On The Fuse, Pennywise retreat a bit from the pointed rhetoric of 2003's From the Ashes. The southern California band has never been passive about its views, and The Fuse isn't either. It just picks wider targets to fire at, perhaps in response to the mania that gripped the scene in the run-up to the 2004 presidential elections. Fat Mike and Pennywise and Bad Religion definitely had valid points -- Don't stand pat! Get involved! Screw complacency! -- but their crazed zeal came on so strong that it deflated almost immediately after the election. It couldn't sustain the rush. On The Fuse, Pennywise turn in classicist punk bootstrap anthems (the fabulous opener "Knocked Down"; "Stand Up") and blistering pleas for tolerance ("Competition Song") and tenacity ("Best I Can"). Jim Lindberg's vocals are serviceably gruff, and Fletcher Dragge's guitar work is much more muscular than it's been in recent years. He might hit some power chords that sound familiar, but nothing's ever done weakly. The same goes for Pennywise. The Fuse doesn't really tread any new ground, and might have included a few more tracks like the midtempo rager "Lies" for a little variety. But the album's nevertheless the work of veterans, and is consistently melodic in a way some Cali punk-pop has lost sight of. Pennywise do name some names on The Fuse. "Fox TV" is called out; the bandmembers probably meant Fox News, but their gripes are clarified in lines like "Fair and balanced perjury" and "Fabricated journalism/Junk news and jingoism." They also rail against an overly technological society ("Disconnect") and a misguided war effort ("Premeditated Murder"; "18 Soldiers"). There's a bluntness to these complaints -- they're taken from the Big Issue pile, after all. But like punk's push to rock the vote in 2004, Pennywise are just trying to remain aware and keep their enemies close. After all, it's not like any of these problems have been solved. ~ Johnny Loftus, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
California punk and hardcore have always been fellow travelers with skate and surf culture; the convergent scenes had common beefs with suburban boredom and clueless authority. But as the Cali sound was discovered by a national audience, and surfing and skateboarding entered a new renaissance of extreme sport and big-money sponsorship, the original identification with subculture and subversion was perhaps diluted a bit. But while corporatization is still a factor, in the 21st century West Coast labels like Epitaph and Fat Wreck have proven their staying power and independent spirit. Enabled by Internet savvy and genius marketing initiatives like the Vans Warped Tour, these labels and their bands have taken up the activism and subversion gauntlet once again, influencing a new generation of fresh-faced punks and X-Games skaters with ideas and attitudes that are anything but mainstream. Now 15 years on, Hermosa Beach punk veterans Pennywise have issued From the Ashes. It's a welcome, rocking return to form after some weaker efforts, but it also takes a page from NOFX's War on Errorism, promoting an agenda of awareness amidst its fist-pumping, sun-drenched anthems. The Cali bands' platform is one of wagon-circling. Fed up with conservative government, they encourage the punks and kids to pay attention to what's going on, but close ranks in support of each other. It's a reengineering of the original punk rock ethic in the face of a new enemy. Throughout "God Save the USA," the dynamic "This Is Only a Test," and the raging "Punch Drunk," vocalist Jim Lindberg rallies his troops. "They're draining the banks now but no one will tell you," he spits in the latter. "If you don't believe it then they already got you." All this consciousness raising is admirable. But what's even better is the stripped-down, classic Cali punk delivery system that Pennywise deploys throughout From the Ashes. "Something to Change" recalls vintage skatepunk, bitching about boredom over a breakneck brutally simplistic screed. Pennywise sums up its lengthy career, informed cynicism, and warning tone with the ringing power chords of closing anthem "Judgment Day." Lindberg asks, "Who ever knew there'd be days like these when the world could knock us to our knees?" It's the skill of a veteran band to recall its salad days while rocking the recruits, and still clock in at under three minutes. ~ Johnny Loftus, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Pennywise themselves are calling Land of the Free "a wake-up call," aimed at the slumbering masses of America -- an attempt to shake people out of their lethargy, and prod them into thinking about the world. It's also a clarion call to action, made most forcibly on "Fuck Authority," via its demand that "it's time we had our say." However, given the opportunity, Pennywise isn't quite sure what it is they want to say. The songs throw out concerns and reactions, opinions and questions, ideas and concepts, unleashing their own mixed emotions along the way. The quartet's frustration with the current state of affairs singes the tracks, yet solutions and causes by and large evade them. At times it's evident the group feels like they're calling to the deaf while stumbling blindly around in the dark. "Is there anyone listening?" they inquire at one point, half in plea, half in defiance. Pennywise is high enough up in the punk hierarchy to know the answer is yes. Wrapping their message in a barrage of melodies and pummeling beats insures that at every show hundreds of kids will parrot back Land's lyrics, fists punching the air. But will these fans seriously ask themselves the same questions the band are posing? The group hopes so, for the album is obviously meant as a starting point for discussion, raising issues, and consciousness, in hopes of encouraging an eventual grassroots revolution. It's the beginnings of a manifesto, delivering up discussion points for the interested to mull over, then respond with their own ideas via the band's website. From these beginnings Pennywise is determined to forge a plan of action for the future, one that everyone can make their own. ~ Jo-Ann Greene, All Music Guide
'Live at the Key Club'
Release Date 10/16/2000
Tracks 18
Label Epitaph
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Pennywise pulled together impressively after the suicide of Jason Thirsk, as Full Circle proved. Straight Ahead finds them carrying on, turning out an album that rivals its predecessor. In many ways, it's the same album as its predecessor, and that's a problem with traditionalist punk bands in the late '90s: By adhering to their ideals, they leave themselves little room for artistic growth, which means all their albums pretty much sound the same. In the case of Pennywise, this isn't necessarily a bad thing, since they're a very good, very tight band. Even if their albums are similar, they're all enjoyable, which means Straight Ahead is a solid record that will please fans, even if it does raise the question of where the band should go from here. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
On the first listen to Full Circle, it's hard to believe that Pennywise had a founding member commit suicide prior to the album's recording. The record is tough, heavy, hard, and fast, expanding the breakthroughs the group made with 1995's About Time. Listen a little more closely, and there's a newfound pain and pathos on the record that makes Full Circle Pennywise's most affecting album. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
'Wildcard/A Word from the Wise'
Release Date 4/16/1995
Tracks 8
Label Theologian
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Pennywise followed up 1993's inspired Unknown Road with another set of blistering Southern California hardcore on its 1995 release About Time. Pennywise had just begun to gel upon the return of singer Jim Lindberg and the completion of Unknown Road. The band's fourth release in as many years finds it functioning as a full-strength unit, cranking out searing hardcore laced with positive but leery messages and ideals. While the music and message remain essentially the same as their previous releases, increasing depth and maturity begin to take hold in both these areas. "Peaceful Day" jump-starts About Time with Fletcher Dragge's soaring guitar providing a deliberately tense landscape for Lindberg's passionate search for knowledge and enlightenment. While Pennywise generally purveys a forcefully positive attitude, the dark undercurrent that began to surface on Unknown Road claws closer to the surface on About Time. The justifiably angry "Freebase" finds them tackling the pain of losing friends to addiction, a somewhat ominous subject considering bassist Jason Thirsk lost a long battle with alcoholism about a year after the release of About Time. Pennywise's subject matter leans toward dark, brooding misanthropy at times, but always manages to convey an attitude of staunch determination. "Perfect People" details the simultaneous frustration and satisfaction of skirting dogmatic societal norms in favor of free-thinking individuality. "Same Old Story" expounds the theme, railing against the perils of living blindly by handed-down rules. Pennywise captures the importance of perseverance in the face of adversity on About Time, while continuing to develop an increasingly haunting but inspirational tone. Musically, the band continues to pound out earsplitting, high-energy hardcore with ever-increasing prowess. And while About Time doesn't necessarily break new musical ground, Pennywise shows subtle signs of growth while maintaining its hardcore influences. (Not always an easy feat.) Just when it seems as though Pennywise can't get any harder, faster, or tighter, the band members muster their collective forces and strengthen their attack to produce one of the most essential albums of their career. ~ Paul Henderson, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
The echoing piano melody that opens Pennywise's 1993 effort, Unknown Road, suggests a more thoughtful side to a band known more for raw energy and aggression than introspection. The almost melancholy intro barely winds down before Pennywise launches full bore into the title track with simultaneous fury and accuracy. Pennywise hits a new level of controlled chaos on Unknown Road with a finely tuned, tightly wound musical attack. Jim Lindberg's caffeine-fueled, angst-ridden diatribes on lost time and personal responsibility mesh seamlessly with Fletcher Dragge's fiercely visceral, yet melodic guitar crunch. Scorching personal anthems like "It's Up to Me" and "You Can Demand" showcase the concept of the do it yourself ideal that has been alive and kicking since the inception of punk. Pennywise began recording Unknown Road in the absence of Jim Lindberg, with bassist Jason Thirsk attempting to fill the gap on vocals. Thirsk's bass teacher, Randy Bradbury, took over bass duties for the majority of the recording. (Bradbury also took over Thirsk's spot in Pennywise after the founding member's death in 1996.) Lindberg rejoined Pennywise midway through the recording of Unknown Road, enabling the completion of the album and the continuation of the band. Bradbury and Thirsk, along with drummer Byron McMackin, frame Dragge's speed-freak guitar riot and Lindberg's drill sergeant delivery with adept skill and inventive musical craftsmanship. They add high-test fuel to the fire of Dragge's screaming riffs and unflinchingly accommodate dizzying time changes. The band hits their collective stride on "Time to Burn" and "Dying to Know," combining their musical prowess and intensity with forceful personal messages. The ferociously fan-loyal Pennywise continues to reinforce their dedication to inspiring their listeners to embrace life from an enthusiastic perspective. Their message of optimism, however, is tempered with a stern dose of reality. While these are somewhat common themes in more insightful punk and hardcore, they are rarely as well crafted and delivered. Their coiled aural assault provides a dynamic tension that aptly punctuates the ideas within the songs. Unknown Road is an inspired effort by the reunited and recharged Pennywise, the first consistently solid release of their career. ~ Paul Henderson, All Music Guide
