Band: Pennywise
Album: Reason To Believe
Genre: Punk
Label: Myspace

Tracks:
1. As Long As We Can
2. One Reason
3. Faith and Hope
4. Something To Live For
5. All We Need
6. The Western World
7. We’ll Never Know
8. Confusion
9. Nothing To Lose
10 It’s Not Enough To Believe
11. You Get The Life You Choose
12. Affliction
13. Brag, Exaggerate, & Life
14. Die For You

The Odds are, if you like modern punk, you know who Pennywise is. If you aren’t a seasoned punk rocker, you’ve probably heard the name tossed around, and for good reason. Pennywise is one of the premier modern punk bands in the U.S. If you’ve already got a Bad Religion poster up on the wall, you should make room for a pennywise throw pillow on your couch (that might be DIY affair, if you actually want one). Regardless of your current level of punkatude, you should probably be well educated on the newest release from Pennywise, Reason to Believe.

Reason to Believe, is the politically charged album from punk rockers Pennywise. The album is filled with fast paced, energetic, fist pumping, “oi” shouting, rock tunes, that will have listeners pogoing (just wait, it’s coming back) in their living rooms. Overall, the album has a great early 90’s underground skate punk vibe, which is honestly, a pleasant change from the pop-punk garbage that so many other bands have been putting out for the last sesquidecennium or so. You should give thanks to the magnificently monstrous milieu of powerhouse drumming, thunderous bass tones, and chunky guitars in which the group presents it’s fantastic vocal melodies and political rants on Reason to Believe.

To my great surprise, nearly every track on this album was catchy, fast, and quite enjoyable to listen to, but a few stuck out more than others. For starters, the spastic drumming of the track “It’s Not Enough to Believe,” really sets the song apart from the others on the album, which have all have similar, guitar, bass, and drum sounds. Lyrically, the song takes a strong political stance against the war in Iraq, and the deaths of soldiers and innocent civilians, which is a common theme through out many of the albums tracks. There are very few political-punk bands who craft their songs in a way that is aurally pleasing in the same way that Pennywise has done with “It’s not Enough to Believe.” If you’re looking to jump to the best tracks on the disc, it’s worth listening to “Faith and Hope,” “Affliction,” and “The Western Wall.”

If you’re interested in Pennywise, you know that sometimes the songs on a punk album can become a little repetitive. However, you may find that on Reason to Believe, that the songs all have their own charm, making the album quite easy to listen to the entire way through, in fact it comes recommended by this reviewer. If you’re a fan of Bad Religion, early Offspring, NOFX, or the Fat Boys, you’ll probably like Pennywise. If you’re a punk rock virgin looking to pop your cherry, then why not get intimate with Pennywise’s Reason to Believe (it may not be orgasmic, but there’s a chance the album will make you breakfast in the morning).
*Written By: Matthew Bullock*
GRADE: 8.72/10

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James Shotwell

James Shotwell is the founder of Under The Gun Review. He loves writing about music and movies almost as much as he loves his two fat cats. He's also the co-founder of Antique Records and the Marketing Coordinator for Haulix. You should probably follow him on Twitter.

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