A Decade of Pennybridge Pioneers

Throughout history particular albums have attributed to defining a generation and Pennybridge Pioneers by Millencolin is by far one of those albums.  The Swedish skater punk band released their fourth album Pennybridge Pioneers in 2000 and had a succession of hits from the album including ‘No Cigar’ and ‘Fox’.  The album was a combination of fun, fast paced, skater punk songs mixed with slower songs that became anthems in which teenagers related to, as is the case with the final song on the album, ‘The Ballad’.  The songs from the album have become timeless and part of Millencolin’s appeal is that they engage a large demographic of people.   For me as a teenager at the time of Pennybridge Pioneers release, if you had not heard of Millencolin directly then you were first exposed to Pennybridge Pioneers through the Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2 soundtrack. Millencolin have maintained a massive following in Australia with Pennybridge Pioneers reaching gold record status and Millencolin have continued to show their appreciation for Australian audiences.  In 2008, their seventh album ‘Machine 15’ was released in Australia before the rest of the world including Sweden.  They then embarked on a massive world tour which lasted for more than a year and started in Perth, Australia.  So, with it being a decade since Pennybridge Pioneers was first released and Millencolin touring Australia as part of the Soundwave festival, Australian audiences have been treated to hearing the album live and in its entirety.  From the moment they walked on stage and kicked into No Cigar, the crowd went crazy as they do every time Millencolin play Brisbane and sung along, word for word to every song.  

Words and Photographs by: Angie Hurlock