Agent Orange

Agent Orange are a punk rock band from Fullerton, California, active from 1979 to the present. They are associated with California surf-punk and are widely identified with a style that combines classic surf guitar figures with the speed and force of hardcore punk. Their music also sits across alternative rock, hard rock, new wave and post-punk, alongside punk and hardcore punk.

History

The band forms in 1979 around guitarist and vocalist Mike Palm. The early line-up includes bassist Steve Soto and drummer Scott Miller. Their name refers both to the defoliant used by the United States military in Vietnam and to Orange County, California.

In 1980 they self-release the single Bloodstains with America and Bored of You. The song receives frequent radio play from Rodney Bingenheimer and helps establish the band in the Southern California punk scene. After Steve Soto leaves to form the Adolescents, James Levesque joins on bass for the debut album.

Their first album, Living in Darkness, appears in 1981 and becomes important in the skate punk underground. From it, the band releases Everything Turns Gray, backed by a version of the Chantays’ Pipeline. In 1982 they issue Bitchin' Summer, a four-track EP built around covers of surf instrumentals. In 1983 they move from Posh Boy to Enigma Records and release When You Least Expect It, an EP containing two originals and two covers, including Somebody to Love.

Albums and recordings

This Is the Voice follows in 1986 and presents a smoother, more polished sound while retaining the band’s intensity. Their recording output then slows, although they remain active as a live band. Real Live Sound, a live album, appears in 1991. By then Scott Miller and James Levesque have left, and Brent Liles and Derek O'Brien are in the group; O'Brien later departs and Scotty Lund takes over drums, with Sam Bolle replacing Liles on bass in 1992.

In 1996 they release Virtually Indestructible on Gunka Disc. Charlie Quintana, formerly of the Plugz and Social Distortion, drums on the album before Steve Latanation replaces him in 1997. The band returns in 2000 with Greatest & Latest, a collection of live and studio recordings of originals and older songs. It is reissued in 2004 as Blood Stained Hitz and again in 2008 as Surfing to Some F#*ked Up S@!t, with a cover of Metallica’s Seek and Destroy added. A 2003 two-CD set, Sonic Snake Session, reissues the Enigma Records material. Another album, This That-n-The Other Thing, is listed with a 2000 date.

Line-up changes and later activity

Agent Orange undergoes repeated rhythm section changes while continuing to perform. Brent Liles and James Levesque die in 2007 and 2014 respectively, and Charlie Quintana dies in 2018. The listed members include Mike Palm, Scott Miller, Mike Palm, Brent Liles, Perry Giordano and Sandy Hanson, and Agent Orange Music is the label associated with the group.