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Kung Fu Records has been releasing a
string of live punk CD/DVD combos under its Show Must Go Off!
moniker; the catalog to date has been a solid mix of live dates from newer
punk outfits like Mest, Alkaline Trio, and Pistol Grip
with established acts like Guttermouth and the Vandals
(there’s also a DVD devoted to “ironic” comic Neil Hamburger, whose
popularity among cold-blooded hipsters baffles me to no end). Their latest
release is also one of their best to date, and fans of ‘80s era Southern
California hardcore will undoubtedly agree, as it features the
Adolescents, one of that scene’s most popular and potent bands.
The
Adolescents have broken up, reformed and gone through more personnel changes
over the past two decades-plus than the rest of the groups on Kung Fu’s
roster
combined (the original line-up mutated into ADZ, and players including
Pat
Smear, Dan Colburn of White Mice, Sandy Hansen and about a million others
have
served time in the band since they launched in ’81), but the classic line-up
and
core featured buzzbomb guitarist/songwriter Rikk Agnew, bassist Steve Soto
and
frontman Tony Reflex. All three are on stage at this HOB show from Anaheim
in
2003, along with guitarist Frank Agnew (Christian Death/The Joykiller) and
new
drummer Derek O’Brien (Social Distortion/D.I./Agent Orange). And if the band
looks a little worse for wear in the accompanying DVD (as Frank, Tony and
Steve
point out in the commentary, “There’s a lot of pregnant men on stage”), they
sure as hell don’t sound that way as they piledrive through a 19-song set of
their best-known tunes, including traditional show opener “No Way,” “Kids of
the
Black Hole,” “Who Is Who” “O.C. Confidential,” and more (though their recent
closer, Iggy's "I Got a Right," is unfortunately absent from the set list).
Agnew (who now resembles a green-haired Michael Moore) has lost none of his
absurdly nimble chops, and the band’s signature harmonies still ring like
dissolute Beach Boys; they’ve also lost none of their prickly onstage
demeanor,
as evidenced by Tony’s challenge to a bottle-tossing goon in the audience
(“I’m
ready,” he growls, and you know he's not kidding). This is solid, balls-out
SoCal punk, and if the songs are older than most of the audience, they’ve
got an
edge and a passion that trumps anything being slung by the
wifebeater-and-tattoo-sporting pop-punk mooks that haunt the Adolescents’
old
stomping grounds of Fullerton and all points in between. Kung Fu’s DVD includes the aforementioned commentary, a cool photo gallery
featuring the band in various incarnations throughout its history, and best
of
all, a lengthy videotaped show circa ’82 with original drummer Casey Royer.
It’s
grainy as hell, but it proves two things—one, the band never really received
its
due as originators of the OC punk sound, and two, as the new DVD footage
confirms, they never lost their chops. Valuable stuff, across the
board.
—Paul
Gaita
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