Pennywise: Full Circle [EPITAPH]

Why you'll love it

Full Circle is dedicated to founding bassist Jason Thirsk and closes with a re-recorded "Bro Hymn" in his honour. It was the first Pennywise album with Randy Bradbury on bass.

This edition

• Stereo mix

About the album

Some punk records are about girls and skateboards; this one is about a friend. Jason Thirsk had co-founded Pennywise in Hermosa Beach and written a good share of their songs, and when he died in July 1996 the band nearly stopped altogether. They chose to keep going, brought in Randy Bradbury on bass, and headed into the studio that autumn to make an album for him.

Eddie Ashworth produced alongside the band, and Jim Lindberg, Fletcher Dragge, Bradbury and Byron McMackin play like they have something to prove. "Fight Till You Die" and "Date With Destiny" come out swinging, "Society" and "Every Time" are classic Epitaph melodic hardcore, and "What If I" and "Broken" carry the weight of the year. Brett Gurewitz, Epitaph's founder, helped with the mix. "Bro Hymn Tribute" reworks the song Thirsk wrote for lost friends, with his brother Justin singing the bridge and drumming the outro.

NME later put it on its list of pop-punk albums sure to make you nostalgic. Fair warning, though: the closing chorus has a way of turning a quiet living room into a football terrace.

Also at Kops: more Pennywise on vinyl · browse Punk

Tracklist

Listen

On Epitaph (cat# 86489-1), a reissue of the 1997 album.