The Adolescents preview

The Adolescents
Beat Kitchen, Chicago
Saturday, August 5, 2006

As perhaps The Damned to The Clash and Sex Pistols of Social Distortion and Agent Orange, The Adolescents were an integral part of the Orange County punk explosion of 1980. Their inability keep the original lineup together long damaged their historical standing (as did the fact most early material wasn’t recorded until later reunions), but sensing a new political climate they have returned to the stage.

Last summer’s O.C. Confidential (Finger) is the first Adolescents studio album since 1988 and, while not as punchy as the original incarnation’s work, still includes sneering vocalist Tony Cadena, bassist Steve Soto, and guitarist Frank Agnew, rounded out by Social D drummer Derek O’Brien and Agnew’s son Frank Jr. also on guitar. A quick scan at the song titles (“Hawks & Doves,” “Guns Of September,” “Monsanto Hayride”) proves Confidential isn’t a vague rewrite of their most essential single, “Amoeba,” and the guitar breakdown in “Death On Friday” shows they’ve been practicing all these years.

Street Dogs and The Vacancies open.

— Steve Forstneger

Click here to download “Riot On The Beach.”

Category: Stage Buzz, Weekly