Pennywise

Never Gonna Die

Written by: PP on 23/07/2018 22:19:06

There are a few landmark releases by Pennywise we all remember. The self-titled debut album is all about the "Bro Hymn". 1995's "About Time", with its yellow/red dynamite cover, is their most consistent old album. Its follow-up "Full Circle" is another masterpiece, and 2001's "Land Of The Free" will always be remembered by its piercing socio-political lyricism and anthemic sing-alongs that finally broke the band through to the mainstream. Since then, however, it's been few and far between classics. 2008's "Reason To Believe" is the last great Pennywise album since "Land Of The Free" if you ask me, which leaves four other Pennywise albums sandwiched on both sides of the release that have been decent at best, mediocre at worst. Not so with "Never Gonna Die" which is arguably their best record since "Land Of The Free" by quite some margin.

Let's start with the vocals. It's been a long while since Jim Lindberg has sounded this engaged and outright mean on vocals. Not only does he sound tighter than he has done in years, but his melodies are brilliant and his lines instantly catchy. One listen to "American Lies" or "Live While You Can" is enough to have these songs stuck in your head for days. At the same time, the guitars have also been tightened: we're back in 90s level skate punk godhood with relentless, breakneck speed tempo accompanying the hardcore-tuned guitars all the way through. If anything, this is signature style Pennywise as we remember it from their best years, which is enough to eclipse pretty much every record since "Land Of The Free" till now. That's seventeen years of records surpassed by this one, by the way, which says everything you need to know about "Never Gonna Die" already.

Granted, it's not exactly anything original. This is the same Pennywise record you've heard for a good three decades now. But it's a saucy one. It's an aggressive, high-energy release that oozes of the kind of positive, beat 'em all spirit that records often do when everyone in the band clicks on the same wave-length. And that's exactly what has happened here: Pennywise is at their modern best, and that makes "Never Gonna Die" an absolute must-have punk record in 2018.

Download: Never Gonna Die, American Lies, Live While You Can, Can't Be Ignored
For the fans of: Authority Zero, Pulley, Angel Du$t, The Offspring
Listen: Facebook

Release date 20.04.2018
Epitaph

Related Items | How we score?
Comments
comments powered by Disqus

Legal

© Copyright MMXXIV Rockfreaks.net.