I knew nothing about this band but found out F Word! was part of the initial 1977 L.A. punk explosion, centered around the Masque club in central Hollywood. Posh Boy was both their label and manager (Robbie Fields), who, according to F-Word!’s Dim Wanker (co-founder, guitar) precipitated the breakup by releasing a record without the band’s knowledge or permission, kicking the then 17-year old Wanker in the stomach, and instigating rifts between band members, particularly Wanker and co-founder Rik L Rik (vocals). The two mended their split years later and played a show “at Bergimont Station in late 1999 w/ X, The GoGo’s, The Crowd and MC’d by Pee Wee Herman to a maximum crowd filling out into the street” (punkvinyl.com). Rik died in 2000.

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You Were Never My Age is OK. The drums are great (“Don’t Kill the Beat” and punchy punk opener “I Hear a Rumble“) but the vocals are a bit whiney instead of punk-snotty, especially on the power ballad album closer “To Sir With Love.” There’s a decent amount of metal guitar posturing, like on “Rub it In” which is very Crüe-esque. You Were Never My Ageis an interesting example of the overlap between the LA metal and punk scene but there’s not enough on this LP for me. I think this is a go.

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Agent Orange played Living in Darkness in its entirety last night, though with other songs as well (otherwise it would have been a very short show as only one song, the title track “Living in Darkness” clocks in at over three minutes; most tracks hover around the 2:00 mark). Unprompted by me, the bassist (Perry Giordano, in the band since 2006) handed me the set list at the end of the night, though I was totally going to ask for it!

Mike Palm, the only original member, on guitar, vocals.

Perry on bass 

This album is such a classic that it’s hard for me to pick my top tracks as I love the whole record and know it beginning to end. But! I adore “Bloodstains” with its anthemic and iconic Cali-punk chorus “Bloodstains, speed kills, fast cars, cheap thrills, rich girls, fine wine” set to a rippingly punked-up surf guitar riff. They go 100% surf with their cover of Dick Dale’s “Miserlou” but then remove all the surfy sunshine on the excellent but very dark “Everything Turns Grey” and “The Last Goodbye.” Then, of course, is “No Such Thing” which is now such a classic skate punk song that it appears in a video game aptly titled “Skate.” Finally, there’s the album opener “Too Young to Die,” which they introduced last night as a tribute to the recent passing of Coolio (I didn’t click record fast enough to get that intro, though): 

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The lead/title track, one of CJ’s best-known songs and an 80’s punk anthem, “Wild in the Streets” is a cover of a ’73 single by Garland Jeffereys. CJ first recorded it in ’80 for Posh Boy Records and it appeared on the comp Rodney on the ROQ. There are two other cover songs on Wild in the Streets: “Just Like Me” (Paul Revere & the Raiders – one of my favorite 60’s songs ever) and Jackie DeShannon‘s “Put a Little Love in Your Heart” which is kinda hilarious as a hardcore punk song. Other notable tracks from the original album are, for me, “Question Authority” and “Moral Majority.” The bonus live tracks include fast and raw versions of “Letter Bomb,” “Wild in the Streets” and “Stars and Stripes.”

I finally got a chance to see Circle Jerks last year in Las Vegas where they headlined the second night of Punk Rock Bowling. Their performance of “Wild in the Streets” was a definite highlight of the weekend.

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Social Distortion rerecorded “Moral Threat” and “All the Answers” for their first LP, Mommy’s Little Monster and “Justice for All” appeared as “It’s the Law” on their ‘88 release Prison Bound, but other than those tracks the album is stocked with some great early singles. Two of my favorites appear twice on Mainliner: “1945″ and “Playpen.” First up are the Posh Boy versions for each track, recorded in April of ‘81 as a three-piece with Mike Ness on guitar and vocals, Dennis Danell on bass and John “Carrot” Stevenson on drums. The Posh Boy cut of “1945″ was part of the 1985 comp Rodney on the ROQ Vol. 2  and Posh Boy included “Playpen” on its 1987 The Future Looks Bright comp. Social Distortion recorded the second variations of the songs in October ‘81 for 13th Floor Records, now as a four-piece with Ness again on guitar and vocals, Danell on guitar, Brent Liles on bass and Derek O’Brien on drums. The tracks “Justice for All,” “All the Answers,” “Mainliner” and “Moral Threat” also appeared on The Future Looks Bright.  Mainliner also has a great punked up cover of the Rolling Stones’ “Under My Thumb.”

From Allmusic: “Mainliner: Wreckage From the Past is a collection of early singles and rare B-sides from Orange County punk legends Social Distortion. Recorded while they were still in their teens, this early material shows no signs of the country-influenced sound that would appear later in the band’s career. The main style displayed here is pure punk fury with short, fast songs, lyrics about teen rebellion, and plenty of attitude to go around. “Playpen,” “Moral Threat,” and “All the Answers” speak of the plight of the early punk rockers who took major abuse from all forms of authority back in a period where the musical style was still considered dangerous. “Mainliner” is a not-at-all subtle tale of heroin abuse. A cover of “Under My Thumb” shows early on that the Rolling Stones were just as much an influence on Social Distortion as the Sex Pistols and the Clash. This collection is definitely intended for dedicated fans and is more of a history lesson than a proper album. Although extremely raw and a bit naïve, becoming familiar with this material will help fans understand where the band came from and appreciate their point of view on stronger, later material.”

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