Pennywise: Hermosa Beach Punk With a Positive Mental Attitude

Photo: darren_k / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/). Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pennywise_Warped_Tour_(cropped).jpg

Pennywise took their name from a horror villain, the clown in Stephen King's It, but their message has always been upbeat. According to Wikipedia, the band first played as P.M.A., short for "Positive Mental Attitude." Their early lyrics pushed that outlook to a generation. By 2007 they had sold more than three million records independently. Pennywise have 5,553 plays on U-Rock®.

Mira Costa and the South Bay

Wikipedia says the band formed in 1988 with guitarist Fletcher Dragge, bassist Jason Thirsk, singer and guitarist Keith Brown and drummer Hank Jacobson. Brown and Jacobson left that year. Drummer Byron McMackin joined, and Thirsk sang until Jim Lindberg arrived. Most of the members had played in other Hermosa Beach bands and attended Mira Costa High School, though McMackin went to Redondo Union. Two EPs, A Word from the Wise and Wildcard, came out in 1989.

Epitaph, every two years

In 1990 the band signed to Epitaph Records, the label run by Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz. Wikipedia says that from the 1991 self-titled debut through 2005's The Fuse, Pennywise released an album every two years. Pennywise spread fast through the punk community. Its lyrics, Wikipedia says, promoted a positive mental attitude and progressive ideals for Generation X. Lindberg left six months after its release, citing a lack of motivation. The band toured Europe with Dave Quackenbush of The Vandals on vocals, Thirsk then moved from bass to vocals with Bradbury taking over bass, and finally Lindberg returned. He rejoined in 1992 in time for Unknown Road (1993), an underground hit that brought tours with The Offspring and others.

About Time (1995) was their first Billboard 200 entry, at No. 96, and reached No. 55 in Australia, with the singles "Same Old Story" and "Searching." Their success, Wikipedia notes, came with the wider 1990s punk boom alongside fellow Californians NOFX, Rancid, Blink-182, Bad Religion, Green Day, The Offspring, Lagwagon and Sublime.

Losing Jason Thirsk

About Time was the last album with Thirsk on bass throughout. Wikipedia records that he left in 1996 to recover from alcoholism, relapsed, and died on 29 July 1996. Randy Bradbury came back on bass. The next album, Full Circle (1997), was dedicated to Thirsk, and its cover art echoes the first album. The band re-recorded "Bro-Hymn," a song Thirsk wrote for their debut, as "Bro-Hymn (Tribute)," swapping in Thirsk's name for those of the friends it originally honoured. Epitaph's own Full Circle page and Easy Reader News tell the same story. It became one of their signature songs.

Straight Ahead and beyond

Straight Ahead (1999) reached No. 62 on the Billboard 200 and No. 8 in Australia, Wikipedia says. Its single "Alien" made the Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart, and a bonus cover of Men at Work's "Down Under" was released only in Australia and New Zealand. The band went on to make twelve studio albums, a live album, two EPs and a DVD.

In August 2009 Lindberg left again and was replaced in early 2010 by Ignite singer Zoli Téglás. With Téglás the band recorded All or Nothing, released in May 2012. Lindberg returned later that year after Téglás was sidelined by a back injury. Wikipedia lists today's line-up as Lindberg, Dragge, Bradbury and McMackin. In 2019 the staff of Consequence ranked them No. 31 among "The 100 Best Pop Punk Bands."

Why it matters on U-Rock®

Pennywise came through loss, line-up changes and the rise and fall of a punk boom, and they never stopped putting out records on an independent label. With 5,553 plays here, Hermosa Beach is well represented on U-Rock®.

U-Rock® play data: 5,553 plays logged across the BROADCAST and CORE histories (2026-07-02 to 2026-10-12), using the higher of the two logs.

Sources 1. Wikipedia, "Pennywise (band)" — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennywise_(band) 2. U-Rock® BROADCAST (AzuraCast) and CORE (airplay_spins) play logs 3. Easy Reader News, "Pennywise's 'Bro Hymn': A hymn known by heart" — https://easyreadernews.com/pennywises-bro-hymn-a-hymn-known-by-heart 4. Epitaph Records, Pennywise, Full Circle — https://epitaph-prod.herokuapp.com/artists/pennywise/release/full-circle-re-issue