Like - "Bro-Hymn" By Pennywise
As someone who grew up in Los Angeles from the years 1991 to 2009, my primary musical education came from “The World Famous” 106.7 KROQ, K-R-O-Q. At least when I wasn’t listening to 91.5 Classical KUSC with my mom in her car (where she had a strict no shitty alternative rock music policy). KROQ was the home of alternative rock in LA but with a real Southern California bent to it. That wasn’t necessarily a good thing, despite the city’s immense amount of civic pride. Linkin Park, Incubus, Hoobastank, Trapt, Alien Ant Farm, and Papa Roach all got plenty of air time. The Red Hot Chili Peppers were our Led Zeppelin—I truly cannot tell you how many times I listened to “Scar Tissue” growing up. But, as we know, all good things must come to an end. In high school, I got into rap and punk and then I moved to college in Portland, OR where bands like Animal Collective, HEALTH, and Pavement reigned supreme. It’s hard to summate how deeply uncool it would have been to play a song like “Sorrow” by Bad Religion to my classmates. And so, through time, exposure to other music, and not living in Southern California anymore, I moved on from my musical upbringing. Well, mostly anyway. There are still a few songs I go to back to, and “Bro-Hymn” by Pennywise is one of them. “Bro-Hymn” isn’t a good song in any tribute to our higher artistic potential as human beings kind of way. However, “Bro-Hymn” is excellent in a group of guys made a catchy rock song with a lot of “Ooooohhhhss” kind of way. There’s more to the song than that though. “Bro-Hymn” is a celebration of life as a tribute track to three friends of the band who died and then a bassist of the band who died. It’s angsty male rage with a reverence for spending time with your bros. That’s something I can still relate to.