Pennywise - Reason To Believe (2008)

Tracklist
1. (Intro) As Long As We Can
2. One Reason
3. Faith Hope
4. Something To Live For
5. All We Need
6. The Western Wall
7. Well Never Know
8. Confusion
9. Nothing To Lose
10. Its Not Enough To Believe
11. You Get The Life You Choose
12. Affliction
13. Brag, Exaggerate Lie
14. Die For You

There’s been plenty of water underneath the punk rock bridge since Pennywise first emerged at the beginning of the nineties, however their 9th album Reason To Believe proves that they’ve not felt the necessity to leap on any bandwagons to remain relevant.

As one of many definitive West Coast punk outfits, Pennywise have been frequently imitated however not often equalled by bands that adopted of their wake. Nor have they turn into holey imitations of themselves; Reason To Believe not have the uncooked youthful grit of their previous materials, but there’s no compromise on tempo, melody or content.

Certainly, the content is crucial factor, and stands in sharp distinction to the privileged whining of the MySpace haircut bands. We’re no less in need of clever and politically conscious bands now than we were two decades in the past, but they appear to be thin on the bottom, leaving veterans like Pennywise to fly the flag of protest.

And they also do – Reason To Believe is shot with clever and critical inspections of politics and culture. "Faith And Hope” and “All We Need” shine a light by the rose-tinted blinkers of religion; “Nothing To Lose” points out the disagreements of consumerism, and “The Western World” retreats in nausea from burst-media shallowness:

"this is the face of our vanity / the tabloid death of humanity”

Musically, you get precisely what you’d count on from Pennywise. You don’t demand innovation from genuine punk bands; so long as they maintain their musical integrity, they’re within the clear, and Reason To Believe has all of the elements you demand with no pointless extras. Fast 4-chord riffs, galloping rhythms from the drums and bass, straightforward singing with pure unprocessed backing harmonies … it’s a components, positive, however it’s a formulation than works finest when it isn’t messed with.

After all, the irony of politically motivated music is that it’s often preaching to the choir. Besides, I believe it’s good to know there are still bands like Pennywise around who haven’t turned their creative backs on the world around them. And likewise it’s nice to listen to older bands matured but unbowed by their age; Reason To Believe is the sound of a band who’ve stayed the course, and who show no meaning of giving up any time soon.