The Vandals 

Biography

• The Vandals are a punk rock band from California, US who rose from the depths of the emerging local punk scene in 1980 and their combination of anti-political, wry humour and jovial nature shaped them into the archetypal So-Cal punk band inspiring the likes of The Offspring and blink-182.

  Forming in 1980 with the original line-up consisted of: Jan Nils Ackerman (guitar), Steven Jenson (vocals), Steve Pfauter (bass) and Joe Escalante (drums), The Vandals surrounded by seminal punk bands like Social Distortion, Bad Religion and Descendants absorbed the emerging punk trend prevalent in the Southern Californian scene. What saw The Vandals distinguish themselves from the rest was their distinctive humour which they have maintained throughout their career.

  In 1982 the band signed with Epitaph Records to release their debut EP “Peace Thru Vandalism” which took inspiration from some very real personal experiences apparent in tracks such as “Legend of Pat Brown” and “Pirate’s Life”. Integrating well into their live sets, the EP also featured future fan favourites as the release saw the band mark their territory. As The Vandals toured relentlessly in their local area, they soon built up a loyal following.

  The Vandals appeared in director Penelope Spheeris’ 1984 film “Surburbia”, exploring the punk movement within suburban areas of California and the prominent youth culture of the 60’s and 70’s. Within the same year the band released their first full length “When in Rome Do as The Vandals” through National Trust Records as Pfauter announced his departure and was quickly replaced by Chalmer Lumery. A departure from their previous release, the band experimented with fusing several genre combinations such as “Mohawk Town” which blended punk rock with country twisted with their signature humour. With rising tension in the band down to personality clashes, Jenson left the band in the late 80’s and Dave Quakenbush from Falling Idols stepped in.

  By the time The Vandals released their second album “Slippery When Ill” in 1989, the band had undergone more line-up changes. With Escalante moving from drums to bass and the welcome additions of Warren Fitzgerald on guitar and Josh Freese on drums, The Vandals had once again solidified their line up in the early 90’s.

  The 90’s saw a revival of the Californian punk scene as it began infiltrating the mainstream headed by bands such as NOFX, Green Day and The Offspring. As The Vandals made their third release “Fear of a Punk Planet”, they soon found themselves deep within the scene as they appeared on radio stations and rock television shows with their first video “Pizza Train”.

  In 1994, the band signed with The Offspring’s Dexter Holland’s imprint label Nitro Records to release the albums “Live Fast Diarrhea” (1995) and “The Quickening” (1996). As they continued touring relentless, The Vandals were eventually embraced by the Warped Tour culture. After the release of “The Quickening” Escalante and Fitzgerald set up Kung Fu Records initially to release the Assorted Jelly Beans’ “Riverside” album and soon the label became involved with the movie soundtrack for “Glory Daze”. The Vandals would also release the Christmas album “Oi to the World!” off Kung Fu at the end of 1996.

  In 2000 the band released their last album with Nitro “Look What I Almost Stepped In” and now with Kung Fu Records having become more established, The Vandals signed with their own label where to this day they remain. Despite a string of lawsuits and several line-up changes, The Vandals have remained true to themselves, persevering and championing the DIY bands and cementing their precedence as one of the most seminal punk bands to emerge from that era.

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