Agent Orange

AGENT ORANGE
El Centro • The Skulls • Split Decision
June 7th @ The Tiki Bar, Costa Mesa, CA  
Review By: Goth Brooks  Photos By: Goth Brooks

     To call the opening band SPLIT DECISION a mere skate punk band would be a big understatement. This band wouldn't be too hard to categorize for anyone whose seen them, but I think all those people's categorizations would draw different conclusions running along similar lines. My idea of SPLIT DECISION is that they're a mutated Vandals meets Bad Religion. Hugely talented and very very entertaining. And don't let me forget fun. You know, FUN! Like a bowl full of chicharrones for Christmas dinner. Yeah Man! That kind of FUN! They make you want to get up there and sing along to that Quiet Riot song with them. It's a drag when you have a band this fun and this talented in front of a good size crowd who aren't familiar with the band or their songs. After a few more shows and some word of mouth promotion I'm sure SPLIT DECISION will make-up for the lack of bodily harm being done in front of the stage.

     Between Sets from SPLIT DECISION and SKULLS I'm in the Tiki Bar parking lot smoking the last of a free pack of American Spirit cigarettes made with 100% natural tobacco and no chemical additives when I run into an old acquaintance named James who's English, used to play drums in The Addicts and also a band called Famous Tea, and is now playing bass in SKULLS. So naturally I'm curious to hear what SKULLS sound like. SKULLS take the listener back to MC5, and Raw Power era Iggy being played by guys who look like they stepped out of a CBGB's 1976 time-warp. Billy Bones on vocals seems to have the gritty kind of honesty about his songs that say he's singing about what he's lived not what he's vicariously lived through someone else, and I'll bet he dresses like that everyday. 

     EL CENTRO is a band I've been hearing about for a long time but never got around to checking out until this night, and I'm glad I finally did. EL CENTRO plays Hard Fast and Loud and were my personal favorites on this bill. Call me a simpleton but Hard Fast and Loud is all I usually require for my musical fix. Add to that all the fine fine women that EL CENTRO draws to their shows rubbing up against me as they crowd the front of the stage. It was hard to get pictures of the band with all the action going on up front but I'm not complaining. The guitarist with the black SG was the standout talent of this band in my opinion. That kid would fit in as well playing in a metal band with Ozzy as he does in EL CENTRO. The Kid has the fastest chops I've seen in a while. A really good pick hand on that kid. Mesmerizing to watch. The singer has a great repoire with the crowd, giving out free shots and throwing out a piñata full of stickers and stuff. I say "and stuff" because my friend Tina found 2 joints in a batch of EL CENTRO STICKERS. How they got there is anybody's guess.

     How was I schooled? Oh let me count the ways. 1. Mike Palm has a different drummer and bass player than when I saw them in 1989. 2. AGENT ORANGE didn't play California Dreaming and they didn't wear dayglo. 3. Although AGENT ORANGE didn't play California Dreaming they did play Jefferson Airplanes "Somebody to Love" and I didn't even cringe. 4. Mike Palm is the innovator and the ruler of a bastardized form of Surf Punk guitar playing that is drenched in feedback, distortion, heavy saturation and crystal clearness all at once. 5. Aside from Bloodstains and Everything turns grey I do remember I kill spies. 6. I liked every song AGENT ORANGE played at this show. 7. Mike Palm needs to learn some Rik L.Rik songs and give me a free T-Shirt.