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Agression
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FILE UNDER: First-wave skate-punk YEARS OF EXISTENCE: Off and on, from early '80s - present RECORD TO START WITH: Don't Be Mistaken (1983; 1997, BYO) AFTER THAT, CHECK OUT: Best Of (2003, Mystic) GO DOWNLOAD: "Dear John Letter," "Rat Race," "Insomnia," "Secret Sex," "Locals Only," "Intense Energy" THE MUSIC, THE MESSAGE: Part of Oxnard, California's nascent "Nardcore" scene that also featured bands like Stalag 13 and Ill Repute, Agression were the product of four skaters-Mark Hickey, Henry Knowles, Bob Clark and Mark Aber-who, along with bands such as JFA, Big Boys and Dr. Know, minted the hardcore sub-genre skate-punk in the early '80s. It only seemed natural, melding the two youth-based, outcast-driven sub-cultures-skateboarding and hardcore punk-into one entity. Both, after all, were explosive, fast, intense adrenaline-rushes. And Agression certainly were intense, showcasing their first material on the now-legendary BYO comp Someone Got Their Head Kicked In! alongside notables such as Adolescents, Battalion Of Saints and a young Bad Religion. In 1983, Agression unleashed their debut full-length Don't Be Mistaken, which had a fiercer, angrier sound than the tracks on the BYO comp, and featured consistently sub-two-minute blasts with sneering vocals care of Hickey. Not only does Hickey base some songs' subject matter on their sport of choice ("Have you ever seen a skateboarder surfing in a pool/Flying over the coping with a skateboard as his tool," opens "Intense Energy" after a brief soundbite of wheels hitting the pavement), but more often he delves into the topic de rigueur for hardcore bands of the day: critiquing American society. Conformity is harangued in "Brain Bondage" and "Rat Race," for instance, and "Stop The Clock" and "Money Machine" find Agression mocking the status quo and the American dream. The band put out later material on Mystic, including '85's Agression LP, but Don't Be Mistaken is essentially Agression at the shining apex of their career. PUNK-ROCK RELEVANCE: Without bands like Agression paving the way for skate-punk, other bands following in that vein may have never achieved huge success-at least in punk terms (Pennywise and Guttermouth, anyone?). And think about the long-running Vans Warped Tour, and the success it has found packaging punk bands with action sports. Similarly, we now have skate companies like Sessions that have started their own record labels. CURRENT WHEREABOUTS: Sadly, Hickey died in 2000 of liver failure, and in 2002 guitarist Knowles succumbed to leukemia. Still, releases came out: A best-of was released in 2003, as was Full Circle, which included five live tracks. With only one original member left (drummer Aber), Agression released new material on Grind Kings in 2006. Dr. Strange Records plans to release an Agression tribute album, Taking Out A Little Agression, featuring seminal bands like MDC, Verbal Abuse, Fang and Channel 3 putting their own touches on Agression |
