". . .you got enough. . .but you want it all!" is the employing moral behind the driving opener "Greed" from the new "Pennywise" effort, "Straight Ahead." To me, "Pennywise" hold the perfect ground between the pop punk camp and the older come correct 80's style, while avoiding the whole snotty punx sound altogether. There's a touch of melody and hook but tough as nails delivery that doesn't get much more real, and completely bypasses sappy.

This isn't the second coming of punk, nor do I think there ever will be, more like and ebb and flow of ideals that are either accepted or rejected by the whole of the punk listening community, but it's about as fresh as it gets while still staying within the punk scheme.

Now that I've completely overused the "P" word to the point of draining most of it's meaning, or pissing off the righteous punk rock militia, let's focus more on this rippin' album. If you've got any liking for this genre at all, this disk should either overly impress or at least be worthy of a few good Saturday night beer romps with the boys. There's a certain "Pennywise" formula that will become apparent through these 17 songs, but it's how they are glued together that makes this disk shine. The bass has some truly creative moments, and I like that they can let the bass drive without making it a "bass break."

The fluidity of the bass carry on the verses of "Can't Take Anymore" is a great foundation without relying on riffage. Singer Jim is in usual form, a sort of smooth monotone delivery that he toggles in two note scales for the verses and then slam them more directly on the chorus.

Same with the backing vocals, simple two and three note "whoa - ho - ho's" and "hey - ey - ey's" that I don't particularly care for, but they do the job of thickening up the presence. Guitarist Fletcher hits the muted skips for the verses and big chord strumming for the fast double kick punk staple. Again, not rocket science but it's done with conviction.

When Jim creates a vocal catch, the songs take on more of an identity - check the sticky rhyme scheme on the title track of "Straight Ahead" with group barks of the title - one of my favs on this disk. The Bad Religion influence can be felt on "Alien," which proclaims honestly at the end "We're the Aliens." This is a re-curring theme with the "Pennywise" camp, so the standard continues with their latest album.