Pennywise: Jim Lindberg (vocals); Fletcher Dragge (guitar); Randy Bradbury (bass); Byron Chase McMackin (drums).

Recorded at Stall #2, Redondo Beach, California.

Recording information: Stall #2, Redondo Beach.

Pennywise pulled together impressively after the suicide of Jason Thirsk, as Full Circle proved. Straight Ahead finds them carrying on, turning out an album that rivals its predecessor. In many ways, it's the same album as its predecessor, and that's a problem with traditionalist punk bands in the late '90s: By adhering to their ideals, they leave themselves little room for artistic growth, which means all their albums pretty much sound the same. In the case of Pennywise, this isn't necessarily a bad thing, since they're a very good, very tight band. Even if their albums are similar, they're all enjoyable, which means Straight Ahead is a solid record that will please fans, even if it does raise the question of where the band should go from here. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Along with other California third-wave punk bands like NOFX and MXPX, Pennywise came to fame in the '90s as a major part of the skater/extreme sports milieu. Though the Offspring had more financial success with a pretty similar sound, Pennywise always had the market cornered in terms of street cred with the skater kids. By the time of STRAIGHT AHEAD's release, the revered Cal-punk quartet were already seasoned vets, having gone through the death of a band member (bass player Jason Thirsk), toured ceaselessly, and released several records on top-dog punk label Epitaph. As this 1999 release shows, Pennywise never abandoned their commitment to the classic West Coast skate-punk sound; fast-and-loud Bad Religion-descended hardcore brushed with thrash-metal dynamics and catchy but unobtrusive pop hooks. For as much as the rabble-rousing lyrics decry the sociopolitical state of things, the churning, frenetic guitar and drums offer an immediate, visceral escape from the malaise.

Spin (8/99, p.152) - 7 (out of 10) - "...Pennywise inherits [Bad Religion's] puritanical fervor, get-a-grip sloganeering, and...an anti-government self-reliance that includes down-with-taxes rants....these are the kids your parents hoped you would be."

CMJ (6/7/99, p.26) - "...The group's pure, unfiltered passion saturates its music, which works as an ideal soundtrack for the daily lives of both half-pipe dwellers and alienated punk intellectuals."

Guitar Magazine (7/99, p.96) - "...STRAIGHT AHEAD is an apt title for both the record and the band's lyrical and musical attitude....perfectly tapped into the zeitgeist of male teenage America..."