Jim Lindberg, the frontman of Californian punk band Pennywise, has shared the first song from his debut solo album.
The Palm Of Your Hand is the first taste of a side project, which began during lockdown in 2020.
Lindberg fronted Pennywise from 1988 to 2009, and again since 2012, and also founded The Black Pacific, who released an album in 2010.
He also wrote a book, Punk Rock Dad, which explored the contradictions of being a responsible husband and parent while going onstage to sing songs like Fuck Authority.
The Palm Of Your Hand is his debut solo outing, but he’s joined on the track by some old friends.
Marc Orrell (ex-Dropkick Murphys), who was in The Black Pacific, is on guitar, David Hidalgo Jr. (Social Distortion) plays drums and Joe Gittleman (The Mighty Mighty BossTones) is on bass.
Lindberg’s songwriting is influenced by everything from punk and folk to old-school country and Americana.
Big questions
Lyrically, he takes inspiration anywhere from transcendental philosophers to real-life events; always seeking to tell a story or find the answers to life’s big questions.
The germ of the idea for The Palm Of Your Hand came 15 years ago, when he wrote the chorus.
But the song remained unfinished until last year, when he entered the studio to work on his solo record.
“I wanted to create two fictional characters who are struggling with shame, guilt and self-delusion to match the chorus lyric, so that’s how ‘Left-Handed Sal’ and ‘Walleyed Sally’ were created,” he said.
“It’s a song about two people who for one reason or another can’t seem to get out of their own way, and end up inflicting all kinds of damage on the people around them.
Problem solving
“The only way they’ll get out from under all their problems is to ‘Let that ego drop’ and let their feelings show.
“The answer is right there in front of them, in ‘the palm of your hand’.”
As lead singer of Pennywise, Lindberg has performed on 11 of their 12 studio albums, most recently 2018’s Never Gonna Die.
