THE CD: “The Fuse”
PERFORMER: Pennywise
WEBSITE: pennywisdom.com

How best to describe Pennywise? Hardcore punk is a good start.

“The Fuse” is the eighth release from the Hermosa Beach band. And, despite what you may hear from other members of the chattering class — let me set the record straight: They rock!

The band formed in 1988, so that makes Pennywise older than a lot of their fans. Cool. My first experiences with them were 1995’s “About Time” — which features two personal faves: “Peaceful Day” and “Perfect People” — and ’97’s “Full Circle” (’nuff said).

Fifteen songs, not enough time. That’s how I feel about this record. Pennywise has helped steer punk music away from its more mindless origins, towards a more mature attitude. We’ve all seen the old stock footage of the girl with the safety pin through her nose saying ‘I don’t care what I think.’ Not these guys.

Lead singer Jim Lindberg is among a growing contingent of musicians who say it’s OK to be informed, opinionated and political. Just like KRS-1, his lyrics are of the self-help type; antithetical to the poverty pimp mentality that has invaded youth culture, particularly music. His vocal delivery is rapid, and at the same time, easily understood. The lyrics are included in every CD, but you really only need it for reference.

Guitarist Fletcher Dragge is now an old pro, not just at getting in trouble with law enforcement. He shreds the tempo for the band. He’ll puke on you, screw your mom, and shoot you in the back with an automatic BB gun, just ask bassist Randy Bradbury.

“Knocked Down” opens the CD at a blistering pace. And, yes, the anthem does have some familiar favorites: sing-along choruses and hooks. Lindberg wants his listeners to open their eyes.

That’s just what he says on “Take a Look Around” On the chorus, Lindberg sings in his typical voice: They say you can’t make a difference/That you can’t make a change/It’s a cruel world/Full of hate and full of lies/And it’s time to re-arrange.

“Yell Out” has the whoas that we all know and love in our thrash. On “6th Avenue Nightmare” Lindberg sings about planned urban genocide, civic pride, living in hell, street life, and prison cells. Sounds like Shrewsbury.

I don’t mind if the band sounds the same as they did 10 years ago. I liked them then, and I’ll keep rocking them out. Look at what changing did for Metallica. Some fans hated them; say they sold out; me, I don’t care.

This CD does have a few noticable changes of style. But don’t fear: the band apparently left their acoustic guitars at home this time.

“The Kids” has a mellow guitar intro that you don’t hear frequently on a Pennywise record. Fletcher rides a phaser, something rare for the raw sound that has characterized the band.

And, if you thought Fox News could escape their wrath, forget it. On “Fox TV,” Lindberg calls Murdoch’s baby to task.

So, this is not a musically limited band; they just do what they do, and they do it well. Linberg gives into the Lo-Fi effect on some lyrics, as he has in the past, and that’s cool. The same type of effect is used on Fletcher’s guitar.

On “Dying” there is the civil defense siren, something that appeared on 2003’s “From The Ashes” and made me think it was the third Wednesday of the month each time I heard it. Or, that the sh_t had finally went down, maaan. Start hoarding water.

“Disconnect” seems like it was written by Teddy Kaczynski himself. It features cool samples of If you’d like to make a call, please hang up and try again and dial-up Internet noise. Lindberg has a problem with technology dumbing down the masses. Samples are something not featured too prominently on punk records, and that sucks. If you’ve heard 1999’s “Straight Ahead” and the band’s perverted version of Kennedy’s famous Ask not what your government… tripe, you know the band has some sight.

So, not much has changed with Pennywise. That’s why I actually paid ($) for the CD. Lindberg says it best on their Web site: “Loud, hard and fast — it’s what we’re comfortable playing and we know that’s what people expect from us. … With each record we just try and add subtle changes to the form without morphing into a completely different band, or worse, trying to keep up with the latest trends in music.”

Nick’s Note: If you want to give “The Fuse” a listen, click here to allow Knocked Down & Disconnect into your ears. These are songs on the album, duh.

—By Nick Harrah

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 23rd, 2005 at 2:57 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.