Pennywise

The pop-punk revolution brought about more than its share of pretty-boy poseurs, but Pennywise is hardly one of them: Unrepentantly repellent, the group sticks to monolithic riffs and easy political statements like “Fuck Authority” and ripping on FOX News. The band went through some serious changes since 2008’s Reason To Believe, most notably replacing original singer Jim Lindberg with Zoli Téglás. Despite the upheaval, the new album, All Or Nothing, is less than revolutionary, offering yet another run of four chords and the belabored truth. Nevertheless, Pennywise deserves credit for sticking to its own talking points when selling out is just a “party anthem” away.

Updated 05/09/2012