Punk Vibrations

Pop-punk used to mean more than boy bands with eyeliner (cough, Good Charlotte, cough). The Ramones and The Clash made pop-influenced punk before the subcategory existed, and Screeching Weasel wore the pop-punk label as a badge. SoCal group Agent Orange is a part of that tradition. Known for fusing surf music with the emerging music of their times, Agent Orange surfaced during the early 1980s west-coast punk scene alongside punk pioneers Bad Religion, Social Distortion, and The Vandals. Tonight they’ll open for hardcore-punk outfit Fear — another relic from the same era. Unlike Agent Orange, whose surf-punk style was hugely influential on what today is known as skate punk, Fear was more aggressive and consequently more exciting, producing a sound that helped lay the foundation for hardcore punk.

Both of the bands retain only one original member — Agent Orange’s Mike Palm, and Fear’s Lee Ving — but the music hasn’t changed. If you want to hear some close-to-classic punk tunes in our neck of the woods, check out Respectable Street Saturday. D.I. and Total Chaos will open. Tickets cost $19.95, and doors open at 7 p.m. Call 651-832-9999, or visit respectablestreet.com.
Sat., Aug. 8, 7 p.m., 2009