Adolescents

Adolescents are a hardcore punk and punk rock group from Fullerton, United States, active since 1979. They form part of the early Orange County punk scene and are known for fast, energetic songs and for helping define the area’s hardcore sound.

Formation and early line-up

Steve Soto forms the band after leaving Agent Orange in late 1979. The original line-up features Tony Cadena on vocals, Soto on bass, Frank Agnew on guitar, John O'Donovan on guitar and Peter Pan on drums. In June, O'Donovan and Pan leave and Rikk Agnew and Casey Royer join; Royer has previously played with Social Distortion and The Detours and also sings for D.I.

Early recordings and break-up

The group releases the hardcore single "Amoeba" on Posh Boy Records. They then sign to Frontier Records in January 1981 and record their self-titled album the following month. Rikk Agnew leaves and Pat Smear, formerly of The Germs, replaces him. That line-up lasts until the end of June, when Smear departs. The Adolescents break up in August 1981.

Related projects and first reunion

After the break-up, Cadena forms The Abandoned, Soto and Agnew join Legal Weapon, Royer forms D.I., and Agnew later joins Christian Death. Rikk Agnew also makes a solo album in 1983 and later joins D.I. with Alfie Agnew, Frank and Rikk Agnew’s younger brother. The band reform in 1986 with the original line-up and work on a new album. They record Brats in Battalions in late summer, and self-release it in August 1987 because they choose to fund and issue it themselves. The group breaks up again in April 1989.

Later activity

The Adolescents regroup for the 20th anniversary of their self-titled album in 2001 and continue performing. In 2005 they issue O.C. Confidential on Finger Records, a label run by Mel Schantz in Orange County, California. Frank Agnew leaves in 2006, and the band uses rotating live guitarists including Matt Beld, Joe Harrison and Soto’s former Joyride bandmate Mike McKnight. O'Brien leaves in 2008 and Armando Del Rio takes his place. From this period onward, Reflex and Soto are the band’s only constant members and main songwriters, and they sign to the German label Concrete Jungle Records.

Releases from 2009 onward

In 2009 they release a split EP with Burning Heads. Their next album, The Fastest Kid Alive, appears in 2011, and they also contribute a cover of the Runaways’ "School Days" to Take It or Leave It: A Tribute to the Queens of Noise that year. Dan Root replaces Harrison in 2012, when the band releases the American Dogs in Europe EP alongside a European tour. Presumed Insolent follows in 2013. Del Rio is then replaced by Mike Cambra and McKnight by Leroy Merlin for La Vendetta..., which later receives a North American release on Frontier Records. Hot War, a split EP with Russian band Svetlanas, follows in 2015 with one track drawn from Presumed Insolent and one from La Vendetta.... Their most recent studio album is Manifest Density, released by Concrete Jungle in 2016, with Ian Taylor replacing Merlin on rhythm guitar.

Members

The group’s listed members include Steve Soto, Rikk Agnew, Tony Cadena, Frank Agnew, Casey Royer, Pat Smear, Steve Roberts, Alfie Agnew, Dan Brown, Sandy Hanson, Derek O’Brien, Frank Agnew, Jr., Dan Root, Mike Cambra, Leroy Merlin, Brad Logan, Ian Flannon Taylor and Danny Benair.