Pennywise’s Jim Lindberg keeps punk heart alive as he goes acoustic with new solo album

For much than 30 years, Jim Lindberg has belted retired attitude-driven in-your-face skate punk jams. The Pennywise frontman has helped cement a spot for the set arsenic genre legends with songs that question authorization and testosterone-filled tunes similar “Bro Hymn.”

With his punk creds afloat earned and undisputed, the 56-year-old Manhattan Beach nonmigratory took a travel to the Coachella Valley desert, mostly inspired by the representation of his father, and returned with his archetypal solo acoustic album, showing fans his softer, little electrical side.

“I’ve been putting retired large brainsick distorted punk music present for 30 years and I decidedly wanted the situation of doing thing that wasn’t arsenic bombastic but inactive keeping the vigor determination of the anthemic benignant of euphony that I’ve been penning for truthful long,”  said Lindberg, who released “Songs From the Elkhorn Trail” digitally successful mid-November.

The 12-track medium includes upbeat and hopeful songs driven by the acoustic guitar but with bass, drums and adjacent immoderate strings and horns mixed in.

“It was truthful overmuch amusive and truthful liberating being a songwriter and being capable to adhd each that worldly successful there. I deliberation erstwhile radical archetypal perceive it they’ll beryllium like, ‘This sounds thing similar Pennywise,” but astatine the aforesaid clip I deliberation the bosom is determination still,” Lindberg said.

But Lindberg, who grew up successful Hermosa Beach, did telephone connected a fewer of his aged philharmonic bros for help.

The album, which includes David Hidalgo Jr. of Social Distortion connected drums, Joe Gittleman of The Mighty Mighty Bosstones connected bass and Marc Orrell, formerly of the Dropkick Murphys, connected guitar, volition beryllium released connected CD and vinyl May 6.

And portion this is Lindberg’s archetypal acoustic solo album, unplugging is thing caller for the longtime punk rocker, oregon for others successful the genre.

Speakeasy

Several punk euphony veterans precocious showed their acoustic sides astatine the 2nd installment of Redondo Beach’s BeachLife Festival, performing connected the tiny Speakeasy Stage, which was curated by Lindberg and acceptable up nether a wood operation that resembled an oversized surf shack with cushioned patio furnishings successful beforehand of the stage.

That’s wherever respective acts, including Trever Keith from Face to Face and Jason DeVore of Authority Zero, who some regularly play acoustic shows, performed successful beforehand of packed crowds that often spilled retired of the structure.

“The Speakeasy was amazing, I don’t deliberation it could person gone immoderate better,” Lindberg said.

Lindberg besides performed connected the stage, debuting songs from his caller medium to what seemed to beryllium the largest assemblage that gathered successful beforehand of the signifier that weekend, which has Lindberg reasoning astir making a fewer changes for next year’s BeachLife.

“I deliberation we’re going to person to grow connected it a small adjacent twelvemonth due to the fact that it got a small crowded for a portion determination but I couldn’t beryllium happier due to the fact that everyone seemed to beryllium having a bully time,” helium said. “We’re looking astatine that close present and we’re readying retired the tract representation for adjacent year,” helium added.

Desert retreat

Lindberg volition proceed to thrust this acoustic question arsenic helium supports the caller album, which was partially written astatine his precocious father’s location successful Palm Desert.

“I beryllium truthful overmuch to my begetter with everything helium gave maine and supporting my career,” Lindberg said, adding that his father, who died successful 2018, helped power his emotion of euphony from a young age, introducing him to singer/songwriters including Harry Chapin and Roger Miller.

“The location was conscionable a truly peacefully quiescent spot for maine to get distant and constitute songs,” helium said. “His power is each implicit this record.”

The medium opens with “The Palm of Your Hand,” an upbeat tune with an affectional connection and a video filmed successful beforehand decades-old Manhattan Beach dive bar Ercole’s.

“The full thought successful the chorus was you gotta fto your feelings amusement and fto your ego drop,” Lindberg said of the song.

Jim Lindberg of Pennywise is 1 of the performers and the curator for the BeachLife Festival’s SpeakEasy stage. Lindberg precocious released his archetypal solo acoustic album. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)

And successful existent punk fashion, Lindberg showed up for the video sporting a Black Flag shirt, fedora and shades arsenic helium and a person filmed him playing a guitar and singing successful beforehand of the bar.

“We conscionable went down and acceptable up my guitar conscionable similar I was a busker successful the thoroughfare and we recorded it truly rapidly and luckily nary 1 stopped me,” helium said.

Some radical adjacent enactment wealth successful his guitar case.

Another defining opus connected the medium that takes the in-your-face punk cognition and flips it into an in-your-heart affectional tune is “Don’t Lay Me Down,” a opus astir his father’s decease and conflict with Alzheimer’s disease.

“I deliberation it’s truly typical of the medium due to the fact that I wrote it successful 1 sitting from apical to bottommost and it’s conscionable precise honest. That opus is astir arsenic honorable arsenic it comes, it’s astir existent facts that went connected successful my beingness and going done the grieving process and however to get done it,” helium said.

“It’s truly the keystone opus successful the album,” Lindberg said.

And arsenic acold arsenic the aboriginal of Pennywise, fans request not interest due to the fact that Lindberg is punk capable to propulsion disconnected some styles of euphony astatine the aforesaid time.

“There’s decidedly country for both,” helium said. “At the aforesaid clip having this acoustic medium is simply a bully originative outlet for maine truthful I decidedly privation to bash much of that too,” helium said.

Information: jimlindberg.com