No matter what Jim Lindberg does in the future, he will always be referred to as Jim Lindberg (former singer of Pennywise), probably for the rest of his life. It may even be on his epitaph. It’s just what the punk rock community knows Jim for; that’s the problem anyone who is in one band their entire career has and then tries to do something different. The problem is compounded when the band did pretty much the same album over and over and over – don’t get me wrong, some of those early PW records are absolute classics and they wrote some great songs, but when you’re forced to sign to MySpace Records to try and break out of the box you find yourselves in, you know it’s time for a change.
To be fair to Jim he’s been quite vocal about not wanting to be away from his kids and he’s quite happy not to tour. That makes being in a band like Pennywise pretty hard so it’s understandable he gave it up and now has a new project. Unsurprisingly The Black Pacific isn’t a million miles away from his former band. It’s perhaps a little less hardcore, a little less aggressive sonically, even if it’s still biting and cutting edge lyrically. It’s almost as if Jim couldn’t live without an outlet for his angst – lyrically The Black Pacific are ahead of most bands when it comes to be socially and politically aware.
Musically though, it’s just a bit…meh. If the thought of some new Pennywise material excites you, this self-titled album will get you in the mood until Fletcher stops scrapping with bands on Warped and gets back in the studio. Jim has one of those distinctly recognisable vocals and so he’s an instant hit for those needing a PW fix. It’s all competent, don’t get me wrong, but there’s nothing here I would suggest is essential listening. I found songs beginning to blend into each other and on repeated listens I could distinguish between tracks I’d heard before and ones I hadn’t. It’s all reasonably good, but none of it ever tips the balance of greatness.
This is certainly a record that long time fans of Pennywise will enjoy, if only to satisfy their curiousity. But I’m not sure we’ll see any commercial success – and I suspect that will please Jim just fine.