Chris DeLine

From the time of their formation in 1988, SoCal’s Pennywise have been one of punk’s most consistent bands. Last year the group threw fans for a loop, however, releasing their latest album, Reason to Believe, via their MySpace page. Though a corporate release was out of line with the band’s historical ideology (they backed away from signing with a corporate label during punk’s revival in the mid-1990s and have been outspoken in their philosophy against big business), and despite having released nine albums with Epitaph Records (since first signing with the independent label in 1990), they did so for a reason: to give back to their fans. And that they did, as Reason to Believe was downloaded over 500,000 times. In continued support of the album, the band is co-headlining the Jagermeister Music Tour with dub rock trio Pepper. With Outlaw Nation and Emcee Big B. All ages.

[This critics’ pick was originally published by City Pages.]