POP AND JAZZ REVIEWS : Pennywise Offers a Hard-Core Trip

It was like a trip back to L.A.’s early-1980s hard-core scene at the sold-out Shrine Expo Hall on Friday, as the Hermosa Beach quartet Pennywise banged out warp-speed songs and shouted anthemic lyrics for hundreds of amped teens.

The band follows in the footsteps of earlier South Bay bands such as Black Flag and the Descendents, and its independent-label “Unknown Road” album has sold more than 75,000 copies, mainly on word of mouth alone. The band didn’t show great originality Friday, but did what good hard-core is supposed to do--whip up Angst and instigate a slamming frenzy.

Jim Lindberg shouted monotone vocals in the spirit of Social Distortion’s Mike Ness as the band played adrenaline-charged, stop-and-go numbers. They shot out a joking version of “Stand By Me,” then respectfully covered songs by hard-core gods Black Flag and the Dead Kennedys.

Fans in buzz-cuts and combat boots moshed nonstop in a fervent attempt to relive a scene they missed the first time around. Fights broke out here and there, and the band urged the crowd to brave the massive security guards and jump on stage, which they did.

Though Pennywise isn’t cracking any new musical territory, they’re packing venues and selling albums on merit alone, lending a much needed grit to corporate rock’s clean “alternative” scene.