socal hardcore Archives - Vinyl From The Vault

Adolescents “Adolescents”

sfilzen — Thu, 28 Jun 2018 22:21:19 +0000

Adolescents “Adolescents” 1981. Frontier Records. Yesterday the punk world lost legendary Adolescents founder, bassist, occasional singer and only consistent member Steve Soto. He also was in Agent Orange’s original lineup (with Mike Palm and Scott Miller), Legal Weapon (with Adolescents guitarist Frank Agnew when the Adolescents first broke up in ‘81), Joyride (with Adolescents drummer Sandy Hanson after the second band breakup in ‘89), 22 Jacks and the “supergroup” Punk Rock Karaoke (with Eric Melvin of NOFX, Greg Hetson of Bad Religion and Circle Jerks and Derek O’Brien of Social Distortion, D.I., Agent Orange and Adolescents) before reforming Adolescents a third time in 2001.

Adolescents (or The Blue Album as it is commonly referred to) was the band’s debut record and became one of the first hardcore punk albums to be widely distributed throughout the United States one of the best-selling California hardcore albums of its time. “The debut from these five Orange County kids established the mid-tempo, punk-pop ‘Southern Cal sound,’ led by the long, great, pummeling, Johnny Thunders-derived solos of the two Agnew brothers, Rikk and Frank. These soaring, ripping parts still sound great today. As important, songs such as the anthemic “No Way,” the classic “Amoeba,” the schizophrenic “Kids of the Black Hole,” and the glorious “Creatures” endure precisely because they’re not just aggressive and speedy: they’re super-catchy, heavy-riffing rock & roll, proving again that punk was the true heir to the likes of Chuck Berry, Larry Williams, Bo Diddley, and Eddie Cochran.” (Allmusic)

I saw Adolescents play in Green Bay in 1988 and either Steve Soto or Rikk Agnew had vocal responsibilities during that show – I honestly have no idea, it was almost exactly 30 years ago and most of the punk shows I saw at Kutskas Hall kinda blend together in my brain (there were a lot of them).

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Descendents “Milo Goes To College”

sfilzen — Wed, 10 Jan 2018 17:21:39 +0000

Descendents “Milo Goes To College” 1982. New Alliance Records/SST. Their first full-length LP, famously titled for singer’s Milo Aukerman’s leaving the group to go to college for biochemistry and decorated with his nerdy iconic cartoon likeness. Milo Goes to College is cited as an inspiration for the development of the melodic hardcore sound of 80′s California punk with its “super clean, super tight, super poppy hardcore about hating your parents, riding bikes” and girls. (It was also perfect for Midwestern punks in the 80′s: The Descendents, and then All, played A LOT in the mid-to-late 80′s in Appleton/Green Bay area of Wisconsin; it seemed there was a show every other month or so, and several of my friends got to know the band members and/or helped organize shows at various VFW clubs, bars and bowling alleys, the typical venues for all-ages punk shows.)

Though Milo Goes to College is youthful and snotty, my favorite aspect of the album is Tony Lombardo’s bass playing, which provides both rhythm and melody; Lombardo was already in his 30′s when the Descendents formed in ‘79 and the rest of the band were in their teens. Lombardo wrote a significant number of tracks for the album and they tend to be my favorites (though I particularly love the killer bass line Bill Stevenson’s “Myage”): “I’m Not a Punk” about his impatience with the punk scene (damn kids!), “I Wanna Be a Bear” (co-written with Frank Navetta) and the classic “Suburban Home.”

I want to be stereotyped
I want to be classified

I want to be a clone
I want a suburban home
Suburban home
Suburban home
Suburban home

I want to be masochistic
I want to be a statistic

I want to be a clone
I want a suburban home
Suburban home
Suburban home
Suburban home

I don’t want no hippie pad
I want a house just like mom and dad

I want to be stereotyped
I want to be classified
I want to be masochistic
I want to be a statistic

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“Repo Man” Soundtrack

sfilzen — Mon, 18 Sep 2017 16:07:25 +0000

“Repo Man” Soundtrack, 1984. Today I’m spinning the soundtrack to the first film I ever saw starring Harry Dean Stanton, who died this past Friday (September 15th) at 91. Repo Man’s soundtrack was a who’s who primer of California punk (with godfather Iggy Pop in the mix with the title track “Repo Man”), introducing SoCal hardcore to the masses. Black Flag’s “TV Party” and “Coup D’Etat” by The Circle Jerks are perfect selections for the Emilio Estevez’s Otto: jaded, bored and broke. So, too, are Suicidal Tendencies’ “Institutionalized” and Fear’s “Let’s Have a War,” both punk classics and particularly popular among my group of friends in the mid-80′s. The more offbeat art-punk track and the endlessly quotable “Pablo Picasso” written by Jonathan Richman of the Modern Lovers (”Well some people try to pick up girls/And get called assholes/This never happened to Pablo Picasso/He could walk down your street/And girls could not resist his stare and so Pablo Picasso was never called an asshole”) and The Plugz’s Mexicali “Hombre Secreto” complete the film’s surreal storyline and southern California setting.

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