JFA

JFA (Jodie Foster’s Army) is a hardcore punk and skate punk group from Phoenix, Arizona, active since 1981. It forms out of the skateboard and punk scenes in Arizona and Southern California and is regarded as an important band in the development of skate punk and Skate Rock.

Formation and early lineup

The original line-up includes Brian Brannon on vocals, Don “Redondo” Pendleton on guitar, Michael Cornelius on bass, and Mike “Bam-Bam” Sversvold on drums. The band forms around March 1981. Pendleton, who plays in The Deez, and Cornelius, who plays in Jr. Chemists, know each other through Phoenix shows and skateboarding. After a D.O.A. concert on the Hardcore 81 tour, they begin playing together. Sversvold joins later after meeting Pendleton at an “Industrial Dance” in Phoenix, and he gives the band its name, which refers to his second cousin John Hinckley Jr.’s attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan.

Early releases and touring

JFA’s first show is opening for Black Flag at an Industrial Dance, part of a series of early punk events in Phoenix. Their first song of the night is “Pipetruck.” Placebo Records releases their debut EP, Out Of School, in late 1981. The band tours widely across the west and plays many local shows. Its first national tour follows in the summer of 1983 after the release of its first album, Valley ot the Yakes.

Line-up changes and continuity

Over the years, JFA has many different bass players and drummers, but Brannon and Pendleton remain the core of the group. Alan Bishop of Sun City Girls also plays bass for a period.