Pennywise Forges 'Straight Ahead'

12/18/1998 4:00 PM, Yahoo! Music
Craig Rosen

(12/18/98, 1 p.m. PST) - Pennywise fans won't have to wait until Spring to hear new music. Though the Hermosa Beach, Calif.-based hardcore band is currently recording and mixing its next album, the group has posted one song as an MP3 and Real Audio file on its website, www.pennywisdom.com. Called "Straight Ahead," it's to be the title track to the band's follow-up to 1997's Full Circle.

Coming on the heels of the suicide of former bassist and founding member Jason Thirsk, Full Circle was stark, even by Pennywise standards. Now that sufficient healing time has passed, the band has moved to a more metallic, moody, and melodic direction, as evidenced by three new songs, including "Straight Ahead." Guitarist Fletcher Dragge previewed the tracks for myLAUNCH in his Ford Bronco CD player parked outside the band's recording base, Total Access in Redondo Beach, Calif.

"This record definitely finds us in better spirits," he says. "It's got a good vibe. Not to bag on Guttermouth, but not all our songs can be like 'My Mom's An Assh-le.'" Still keeping with Pennywise's positivist slant, one of the three new songs, "Still Can Be Great," urges people to find peace by letting go of perfectionist tendencies. The other new tune, the midtempo "Aliens," seems inspired by recent storylines from The X-Files, as Pennywise vocalist Jim Lindberg surmises that humans are the true aliens on Earth. "If aliens were to come here, they would be shocked at how f--ked we are," Dragge says. "This is as close to a power ballad as we're ever going to get."

Straight Ahead is due out in March on Epitaph. In the meantime, Pennywise will play dates on the Australian leg of the Warped Tour, and will head to Hawaii for a show on Jan. 23.

-- Jennifer Vineyard, Los Angeles