REVIEW: Pennywise, Straight Ahead (Epitaph)
- Steve Kandell
Though the omnipresent single "Alien" sounds more than a little bit like latter-day Bad Religion, the new Pennywise album is simple old-school, politically charged Orange County punk. Although there is some attention to crafting full-sounding production, this is hardly coated with a poppy sheen, as opening track "Greed" wastes no time in establishing. With machine-gun drumming and thick guitars, this is basic, no-frills punk rock.
The seventeen songs on the appropriately titled Straight Ahead race by with little thought given to diversity or experimentation. Pennywise does one thing well, and they stick to it tenaciously. The closest thing to an exception is the aforementioned "Alien," which is more midtempo and melodic and is presumably the bane of any diehard Pennywise fan's existence. Although the frequent radio airplay no doubt brings cries of sellout from the faithful, the album as a whole really is not in this more commercially accessible vein. In fact, people expecting to hear more songs like the single are in for a rude - and loud - awakening, which may very well be the band's m.o.
Most of Jim Lindberg's fist-pumpingly anthemic songs are odes to forging individual identities or decrying governmental/parental hypocrisy. In other words, the kids love it. ("My Own Country" actually manages to work in both themes at once.) This more traditional, intelligent strain of punk may come as a welcome relief to those frustrated by Pennywise's fellow second generation O.C. "punk" bands, such as the faux ska-punk of No Doubt or Sugar Ray that usually passes for "cutting edge" radio.
