Pennywise 'untitled' album

Hermosa Beach punk rock icons Pennywise, celebrating its 20th anniversary, raised its collective middle finger in the air to the music industry this spring and did the most punk rock/DIY thing imaginable; they gave away their latest record Reason To Believe for free. In fact, 400,000 downloads of Reason To Believe were recorded during a groundbreaking, two week promotion that gave Pennywise's MySpace friends the opportunity to download the whole album from MySpace.

Having released nine classic records in its 20-year history, Pennywise signed with Myspace Records this year and the promotion of Reason To Believe marked the first time a U.S. record label has provided an artist with the opportunity to offer a new album free of charge and the first time MySpace has offered a full album download with a worldwide push.

After rocking audiences during select dates on this summer's Vans Warped Tour, Pennywise is now touring overseas. The second radio single off the Cameron Webb produced Reason to Believe will be "Die For You" and to back it up Pennywise will be playing a series of radio shows in the U.S. later this month, including Chicago’s Q101.1 Block Party alongside Atreyu, and Bullet For My Valentine on September 14. See below for full list of radio dates.

Marking the first time Pennywise has ever serviced radio with a second single from the same record in its career, “Die For You” is the follow-up track to the record’s first single “The Western World” which was a Top 20 hit at Alternative Rock radio and top 10 at several leading stations including Sirius Satellite’s Faction (#1 most played), KROQ (Los Angeles) and 91X (San Diego). “The Western World” proved to be the band’s highest charting single ever. "Die For You" hits radio officially on September 22 and 23.

The band will also headline the first annual Liskfest (www.liskfest.com) in Irvine, California on Saturday, October 11 along with such bands as Gorilla Biscuits, Strung Out, The Vandals, Every Time I Die, Rival Schools, Bleeding Through, Set Your Goals, Revolution Mother and more.

With a presidential election hanging in the balance this fall, now more than ever the world needs the fiery, call-to-arms that is the Pennywise sound. Guitarist Fletcher Dragge says the band’s continuing passion and tension is what makes the band not only tick, but it’s how they’ve survived for 20 years.

“It’s something that we’re driven to do,” Dragge points out. “Our message and what we do has effected a lot of people’s lives and so we kind of feel like we have to do it. It’s bigger than the band.”

tour datse
Sep 13 2008 8:00P Le Festival Envol ET Quebec City, Quebec
Sep 14 2008 8:00P Q101 Block Party @ Devry Chicago, Illinois
Sep 27 2008 8:00P KEDJ Edgedest @ Schnepf Farms Queen Creek, Arizona
Sep 28 2008 8:00P Tucson Electric Park KFMA Fall Tucson, Arizona
Oct 11 2008 8:00P Liskfest @ Oak Canyon Ranch Irvine, California

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Back in 2001, PENNYWISE called their album Land Of The Free? (the question mark pointed out the inequities of modern existence). Now, in 2008, PENNYWISE--one of punk's most credible and influential bands, who’ve sold over three million albums worldwide--will be giving away their next album, Reason To Believe, for FREE. Beginning March 25, 2008, fans around the world will be able to obtain a high quality, DRM-free download from MySpace for a period of two weeks. Longtime PENNYWISE fan and seasoned producer Cameron Webb (Social Distortion, Motorhead, Sum 41) has signed on to produce and mix the upcoming CD.

This music industry precedent is a result of the collaboration between the seminal Southern California punk band, their new label MySpace Records, MySpace.com and Textango (provider of creative solutions for distributing music via text messaging). This marks the first time a U.S. record label has provided an artist with the opportunity to offer a new album free of charge and the first time MySpace has offered a full album download with a worldwide push.

On the same day, PENNYWISE and MySpace Records will also release an enhanced CD/DVD version of the as-yet-untitled disc to retail outlets for sale, with the CD containing the same songs as the downloadable version. There will also be a vinyl version available with two extra exclusive tracks.

To download the album for free beginning March 25, 2008, users simply have to add promotional partner “Textango” (www.myspace.com/textango) as a MySpace friend (anyone can create a MySpace account for free).

“We know that this will piss off a lot of people in the music industry,” says guitarist FLETCHER DRAGGE, “and what do we say to that? ‘Who cares?’ We’ve been pissing people off for 18 years. Why stop now? We have been telling people to get our records by any mean necessary for 17 years. As a band, we decided that it was time to come to terms with the facts. There are a lot of people out there who want their music for free, so we got proactive and with the help of MySpace Records and Textango we found away to make it happen...we couldn’t be more stoked…PENNYWISE FREE TO THE PEOPLE.”

Says lead vocalist JIM LINDBERG: “I think for a band like ours that has put out eight albums already, it's a great way to give back to our fans for their support over the years. We can also potentially expose our music and message to people around the world who may have never had the opportunity to hear it because they either couldn't afford to buy a CD or they didn't have access to music outlets or good distribution. It’s a way for us to instantly expand our music into places it’s never been before. Maybe there's someone in Sri Lanka that is a huge Pennywise fan but just doesn't know it yet.”

Adds FLETCHER: “All on the same day--March 25--you will be able to go out and buy our new record, download it and then go buy it, or just download it for free and sit back and check it out. How cool is that…an option for all ways of thinking?”

“Getting it for free is like being able to take something for a test drive,” says JIM. “There will be some extras that come with the actual physical CD and a few bonus tracks on the vinyl version which we think will help get more people going into their local independent record stores.”

The upcoming disc from PENNYWISE--JIM LINDBERG (vocals), FLETCHER DRAGGE (guitars), BYRON MCMACKIN (drums) and RANDY BRADBURY (bass)--will mark their ninth studio album after having enjoyed a successful lengthy relationship with Epitaph, where they released their self-titled debut album in 1991. The new album “will be a combination of what our fans expect from us with a few curveballs thrown in here and there,” says JIM. “We have to be happy with what we're doing before anyone else, so it will all be about trying to challenge ourselves.”

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Pennywise - untitled