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THE VANDALS are a special band that has been able to weave their quirky humor and raucous hardcore pop-punk into a thrill ride that has lasted for generations. The first two releases, ‘Peace Thru Vandalism’ and ‘When in Rome, Do As The Vandals’ featured frontman Stevo, and the sound was a little more raw and rough around the edges. That may be considered their classic era. Their third album heavily consisted of not-quite-funny “cowpunk” country songs, but the band also started to show signs of what they would become as they solidified their new lineup at the turn of the nineties…
‘Fear of a Punk Planet’, ‘Live Fast, Diarrhea’, and ‘The Quickening’ are essential VANDALS albums that defined what they would be going forward. The band also laid to rest several songs from their “classic” era – though sometimes with incredibly enhanced tempo – on the excellent live album, ‘Sweatin’ To The Oldies’. As the nineties wore on into the 2000s, THE VANDALS seemed to reach harder for the elusive pop radio hits, and their music suffered terribly in some instances. However, there are still some gems in their later albums…
FROM REVIEWS:
PEACE THRU VANDALISM: The six-song debut, classic among certain punkers! These guys are from Southern California and, at this point in their career, played music that sounded like early TSOL, but jokey. Very fun, excitable high-speed punk rock, messily played and amateurishly produced. Some hilarious lyrics in here if you listen close…
LIVE FAST, DIARRHEA: Perfection. One of the funniest, smartest, tightest, fastest and catchiest punk rock albums I have ever heard in my life (and I’ve heard quite a few!). Every one of these 15 tracks is a fucking riot. The subject matterconcerns the annoyances of everyday life. The backdrop is high-speed Epitaph-type punk rock – not necessarily innovative, but always infectious as a groove. And the lyrics are incredible. Sharp, witty — basically brilliant from beginning to end.
THE QUICKENING: Utilizing the same tight, produced, high-speed punk music as the last couple of albums, they present some bonafide should-be classics making fun of Islam, that old punk band Agent Orange (in the song “Aging Orange” – ha!) and MTV’s “Rock The Vote” campaign (“Now let me get this straight/you want MTV viewers/the world’s biggest losers/to vote?/The idea’s wrong/in fact there ought to be a law/If you can sit through a Silverchair video/you shouldn’t be allowed to vote at all”).
