Pennywise + Circle Jerks at The Van Buren

Few bands have endured with as much demonstrably California-encompassing vibrancy as the Hermosa Beach, CA institution that is . They reign unchallenged, outside the margins of the mainstream, a staple on the SoCal radio airwaves and worldwide festival circuit revered and championed by generations of fans filling theaters and clubs.

Pennywise possess the power to merge the subversive with the celebratory. Each Pennywise record is chock full of fast-paced anthems expertly engineered to inspire radical change, personal empowerment, relentless hijinks, and reckless fast times. On paper it may read like a mess of contradictions, but on record, it sounds like California.

At this point, three decades since the band’s DIY beginnings, Pennywise classics like “Same Old Story,” “Fuck Authority,” “Alien,” “Homesick,” and “Bro Hymn” are as fundamental to punk rock and hardcore as stage dives and guitars.

The defiantly titled Never Gonna Die is the first full album of brand new songs with singer Jim Lindberg, guitarist Fletcher Dragge, drummer Byron McMackin, and bassist Randy Bradbury in over ten years. It’s as timely as it is timeless, charging head first into the chaos of the current climate of the world with the tried-and-true determined sound the Pennywise faithful demand. Never Gonna Die was forged in the same space where the band penned classic songs with late bassist Jason Thirsk and produced once again by rock producer and close collaborator Cameron Webb.

Circle Jerks emerged from the punk underbelly of LA’s South Bay in 1979. After serving as a co-founder and lead vocalist of Black Flag during the recording of its essential Nervous Breakdown EP, Keith Morris joined forces with former Redd Kross guitarist Greg Hetson to form what would become Circle Jerks, along with bassist Roger Rogerson and jazz drummer Lucky Lehrer. Unlike much of the unapologetic hardcore that seeped through the cracks of American suburbia, the music of the Circle Jerks was thoughtfully steadfast, yet relentless and ferocious in nature. Bringing together a potent, articulate rhythm section with earnest yet oftentimes derisive lyrics and themes, the band was thereafter heralded as a leader of the pack – and a force to be reckoned with. Plowing forward with a relentless, tooth-cutting work ethic and a rousing stage presence, the band would soon find itself headlining shows at LA’s 5,000-capacity Olympic Auditorium and emblazoned in cult video classics like Decline of Western Civilization and Repo Man. Over the decades, Circle Jerks would release six studio albums, where they would become a major headliner during the alternative music explosion of the 80’s and 90’s. During hiatuses, Morris fronted bands like OFF! and FLAG, while Hetson played guitar in Bad Religion.In celebration of the band’s 40th anniversary and the commemorative reissue of their celebrated landmark record Group Sex, Circle Jerks return to the stage for the first time in over a decade.