The Adolescents

About the band:

The Adolescents are a hardcore punk band formed in 1980 in Fullerton, California. It is a supergroup band made up by early members of Agent Orange and Social Distortion.

The Adolescents were formed by Steve Soto after leaving Agent Orange in December 1979. The original line-up was led by frontman Tony Cadena, with Steve Soto on bass, Frank Agnew on guitar, John O'Donovan on guitar and Peter Pan on drums. Both O'Donovan and Pan left in June. Later that year, the group released the classic hardcore single "Amoeba" on Posh Boy Records. The track also appeared on the Rodney on the ROQ compilation, assembled by L.A. DJ Rodney Bingenheimer.

The Adolescents signed with Frontier Records in January 1981 and recorded their debut album, The Adolescents, the following month. It quickly became one of the best-selling California hardcore albums, behind the Dead Kennedys' Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables. Despite this success, Rikk Agnew left the band. He was replaced by Pat Smear, formerly of The Germs. This lineup lasted until the end of June, when Smear left (he would later go on to join Nirvana during its final years, and then Foo Fighters, although he would leave that band to go solo again in 1997).

The Adolescents broke up in August 1981. Cadena formed The Abandoned, Steve Soto and Frank Agnew joined Legal Weapon, Royer formed D.I., and Rikk Agnew joined Christian Death.

In 1986 The Adolescents reformed with their original line-up and started to work on a new album. Before recording Casey Royer and Frank Agnew left the band. Royer had wanted to keep D.I. going (until 1995), and Agnew lost interest. Sandy Hansen took Royer's place on drums and Alfie took Frank's place on guitar. They recorded Brats in Battalions in the late summer. The record came out in August 1987 due to the band deciding to produce and release the album themselves with little cash or backing.

At the end of 1986 Alfie went to college and his place was taken by Dan Colburn; by the end of the year Cadena and Colburn left. In 1988 Rikk Agnew and Steve Soto decided to replace Colburn with Paul Casey and start singing themselves. Casey left after four months and Frank Agnew replaced him on guitar, after touring the band recorded their then-final album Balboa Fun Zone.

The Adolescents broke up in April 1989. Steve Soto, Sandy Hansen and Frank Agnew started Joyride and Rikk Agnew did a couple of solo albums.

The band regrouped to tour for the 20th anniversary of their self-titled album in 2001 and have continued to perform. Live guitarists can vary depending on who is available--their summer 2006 tour had Joe Harrison and Matt Beld in place of the Agnews. They released their first reunion album, O.C. Confidential, in 2005 on Finger Records, a label owned and run by Mel Schantz out of Orange County, California.

Band's website

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