Variant chronology
1991 - US first press, Rainbo plant, etched 'E-86412-1-A / L-37929' runouts with no Rainbo S-numbers, includes b/w insert
1994 - Rainbo repress, same Greg Lee metal with added S-numbers (S-29116/S-29117 style) in runouts
2014 - Epitaph store exclusive clear vinyl, limited to 500 copies
2018 - black-vinyl reissue
2021 - 30th Anniversary blue w/ black splatter, limited edition
c. 2020s - undated in-print black-vinyl reissue, 'LIVERMORE A/B' runout etchings <- this copy
The Album
Pennywise formed in Hermosa Beach, California in 1988, part of the tight-knit South Bay scene that also produced Black Flag, the Descendents, and the Circle Jerks. They cut their self-titled debut in 1991 at West Beach Recorders in Hollywood, the studio run by Bad Religion guitarist and Epitaph founder Brett Gurewitz, who co-produced. Released on Epitaph, it was one of the key early records - alongside Bad Religion's own catalog - in the wave of fast, melodic Southern California hardcore that would define 1990s skate punk and eventually carry labelmates like The Offspring and Rancid to platinum success. Fourteen songs in under half an hour, it pairs breakneck anthems of self-reliance ('Rules,' 'Wouldn't It Be Nice') with socially barbed material like 'Homeless' and the self-mythologizing title track. Its closing song, 'Bro Hymn,' became the band's signature anthem; after bassist Jason Thirsk's death in 1996, the band re-recorded it as 'Bro Hymn Tribute' on Full Circle, and it remains a staple of their live set and of sports arenas worldwide. The album established the classic lineup of Jim Lindberg, Fletcher Dragge, Jason Thirsk, and Byron McMackin and is widely regarded as one of the band's best records and a cornerstone of the Epitaph sound. Its influence on the melodic hardcore and skate-punk scenes of the 90s and beyond is difficult to overstate.
The Label
Black/silver Epitaph label with the tombstone 'E' logo and gothic Epitaph script, catalog 86412-1, '(c)&(p)1991 Epitaph', and rim text '6201 SUNSET BOULEVARD, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA 90028. UNLAWFUL DUPLICATION MAY BE HAZARDOUS TO YOUR HEALTH!' - the classic early-90s Epitaph design. Epitaph was founded by Bad Religion's Brett Gurewitz out of the West Beach Recorders operation, and the Sunset Blvd. address was the label's home through its mid-90s punk explosion, so the address dates the artwork, not the pressing: this reissue faithfully replicates the 1991 label art including the original copyright line. The typed runouts 'PENNYWISE S/T (EPITAPH) 86412-1 LIVERMORE A/B' are the decisive evidence - they match the undated modern Epitaph reissue variant (Discogs r26866220), not the 1991 Rainbo original ('E-86412-1-A / L-37929', no S-numbers) or the 1994 Rainbo repress (S-numbers added). This copy therefore sits at the bottom of the pressing hierarchy as the current in-print reissue.
