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Punk to the core, yet with audible influences from early heavy metal and surf rock, Agent Orange formed in Fullerton, California at the end of the '70s, with vocalist/guitarist Mike Palm, bassist James Levesque and drummer Scott Miller. The first Agent Orange record, released in 1981 on Poshboy Records in the midst of Southern California's already hectic hardcore community, cemented their reputation as one of the best skate-punk bands around the area. Two EPs during the next few years were all the band released until 1986's This Is the Voice, for Restless/Enigma. A much less energetic LP with brighter melodies and an emphasis on vocal audibility, it was also Agent Orange's last for quite awhile, except for a 1990 live record. The group was resurrected later in the decade, touring the world and recording the 1996 LP Virtually Indestructible. In 2000 Cleopatra released Greatest and Latest, a collection of songs from Agent Orange's catalog rerecorded by the band with three new songs, which was later reissued in 2004 on the Anarchy Music label under the title Blood Stained Hitz. In between these two identical issues, Restless released a two-disc best-of titled Sonic Snake Session, which chronicled many of the group's defining moments in one set. ~ John Bush, All Music Guide |
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