The Vandals

The Vandals

The Vandals are a punk rock band from Huntington Beach, California, active since 1980. They are also associated with skate punk, and over the years their lineup includes Steve Pfauter, Stevo, Jan Nils Ackermann, Joe Escalante, Chalmer Lumary, Doug MacKinnon, Dave Quackenbush, Warren Fitzgerald, Josh Freese, Brooks Wackerman and Rob Rule.

The band forms in 1980 and develops a reputation for humour, using its music for entertainment and sarcasm rather than for more serious themes. It records for Kung Fu Records, and since 2002 Joe Escalante releases the band’s albums through that label, with Warren Fitzgerald usually producing.

The Vandals release ten full-length studio albums and two live albums. They tour extensively and play festivals including the Vans Warped Tour. The group’s lineup changes often in its early years, but Steven Ronald “Stevo” Jensen, guitarist Jan Nils Ackermann and drummer Joe Escalante remain regular members in the first nine years, with Escalante the only original member to stay through all versions of the band. The later lineup of Escalante, Dave Quackenbush, Warren Fitzgerald and Josh Freese remains in place from 1990 and marks a clear break from the band’s early 1980s form.