Jim Lindberg’s Black Pacific is back after a fourteen-year hiatus with their new album, Here Comes Our Wave. Presented is a collection of songs that are all punk rock in some form, but a few go in unexpected directions. While that spectrum is wide, Lindberg keeps to his roots lyrically, but lets us get deeper into his head and personal life.
The songs on the first side will sound familiar to anyone who has followed Lindberg over twenty five plus year career. The album opens with the song, “I Think I’m Paranoid.” A straightforward punk rock song about the distrust of people and the government that Jim’s been preaching for years in Pennywise. “Superhero” feels like a 1990’s punk rock song where Lindberg speaks about his lack of self esteem and wanting to find more. “No Fun’s” fuzzy surf intro dissolves into a mid-tempo punk rock song about dictators around the world and the sociopathic ways they show, “It’s no fun, til we kill everyone.” “Won’t Make A Sound” laments about media biases and how stories get skewed. “Here We Come,” warns about A.I. and its eventual takeover of jobs and probably us. The robot apocalypse has never sounded so catchy.
The back half of this record is what makes this album truly a great and interesting thing. Lindberg shares a different side with us and deviates away from the punk rock he is typically associated with. “Best Day Ever” is probably the most optimistic song I’ve heard Lindberg sing. It’s nice to see him stretch his legs a bit and branch off into poppier punk. It’s not pop punk in its usual form, but it’s a song about appreciating yourself. “Float Away” is a full-on love song. A fantasy about making a raft for him and his wife to float around the world on an endless vacation as a way to get out of the doldrums of a long marriage. “Won’t Let You Down” continues some of the same themes of “Float Away,” but in a more grounded way. It’s a nice culmination of the side before the closing song “Here Comes Our Wave.” Thematically, the title song feels like it would work better closing the first side of the record, but “Won’t Let Me Down” would be a weird place to end the album.
Here Comes Our Wave is a personal record written by someone who has clearly put in the work on his mental health and is not afraid to talk about his feelings as a result. Something that seems to be a lot more prevalent as the punk rock scene gets older. While some of these sentiments have been expressed with Jim’s work in Pennywise, it’s a bit refreshing to not hear them at breakneck speed. If you’re looking for a full-on Pennywise album, this may not be for you, but a few of the songs will definitely scratch that itch. Hearing pop punk filtered through Lindberg’s words mostly lands where it needs to with a pretty good payoff. Alan Vega’s drumming stays in that punk rock box and keeps this album moving at a good pace. Clocking in at under thirty-five minutes, Here Comes Our Wave is a great exploration of punk rock as a genre and Jim Lindberg as a person. The album is out now via Dine Alone Records.
