Peace Thru Vandalism
Encyclopedia
Peace thru Vandalism is the debut EP
by the southern California
punk rock
band The Vandals
, released in 1982 by Epitaph Records
. It was one of the first releases to be put out by the Epitaph label, founded in 1981 by Brett Gurewitz
of Bad Religion
. The EP was re-released by Time Bomb Recordings
in 1989 as a CD that also included the band's first LP
, When in Rome Do as the Vandals
. The CD release is titled Peace thru Vandalism/When in Rome Do as the Vandals
.
The EP introduced the band's style of fast punk rock with humorous, tongue-in-cheek lyrics and subject matter. This style would continue throughout the band's career, as they have always shown a preference for lighthearted humor over serious or controversial subjects such as political and social issues. At the time of the EP's release this was a somewhat novel concept, as most punk bands in the Los Angeles
and Orange County
areas focused on politics, social and personal issues in their music.
fans who gathered at nearby Zuby's. The song received radio airplay on KROQ-FM
's Rodney on the ROQ
program and was the band's first minor "hit" in the punk community. "The Legend of Pat Brown" is about a friend of the band who was a notorious drunk known for causing mayhem, while "Pirate's Life" tells of riding the Pirates of the Caribbean
ride at Disneyland while taking the drug LSD
. "H.B. Hotel" is a cover of the Elvis Presley
song "Heartbreak Hotel" with parodied lyrics. Perhaps the most well-known song from the EP is "Anarchy Burger (Hold the Government)," which became something of an anthem for the band and was played at their shows well into the late 1990s. The song gained renewed interest when it was mentioned in the 2002 Vin Diesel
movie xXx
.
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
by the southern California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
band The Vandals
The Vandals
The Vandals are an American rock band established in 1980 in Huntington Beach, California. They have released ten full-length studio albums and two live albums and have toured the world extensively, including performances on the Vans Warped Tour...
, released in 1982 by Epitaph Records
Epitaph Records
Epitaph Records is a Hollywood, California based independent record label owned by Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz. The label was originally "just a logo and a P.O. box" created in the 1980s for the purpose of selling Bad Religion records, but has evolved into a large independent record...
. It was one of the first releases to be put out by the Epitaph label, founded in 1981 by Brett Gurewitz
Brett Gurewitz
Brett W. Gurewitz , nicknamed Mr. Brett, is the guitarist and a songwriter of Bad Religion. He is also the owner of the music label Epitaph Records and sister-labels ANTI-, Burning Heart Records, Fat Possum Records, and Hellcat Records...
of Bad Religion
Bad Religion
Bad Religion is a punk rock band that formed in Los Angeles in 1979. Their current line-up consists of Greg Graffin , Brett Gurewitz , Jay Bentley , Greg Hetson , Brian Baker and Brooks Wackerman . Gurewitz is also the founder of the label Epitaph Records, which has released almost all of the...
. The EP was re-released by Time Bomb Recordings
Time Bomb Recordings
Time Bomb Recordings is a Laguna Beach, California based record label founded by Social Distortion manager Jim Guerinot in a 1994 joint-venture agreement with Arista Records...
in 1989 as a CD that also included the band's first LP
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
, When in Rome Do as the Vandals
When in Rome Do as the Vandals
When in Rome Do as the Vandals is the debut album by the Huntington Beach punk rock band The Vandals, released in 1984 by National Trust Records. It was the band's first full-length LP. Its title is a play on the phrase "When in Rome, do as the Romans do", as the Vandals was also the name of a...
. The CD release is titled Peace thru Vandalism/When in Rome Do as the Vandals
Peace Thru Vandalism/When in Rome Do as the Vandals
Peace thru Vandalism/When in Rome Do as the Vandals is a compilation album by the southern California punk rock band The Vandals. It was originally released in 1989 by Restless Records...
.
The EP introduced the band's style of fast punk rock with humorous, tongue-in-cheek lyrics and subject matter. This style would continue throughout the band's career, as they have always shown a preference for lighthearted humor over serious or controversial subjects such as political and social issues. At the time of the EP's release this was a somewhat novel concept, as most punk bands in the Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
and Orange County
Orange County, California
Orange County is a county in the U.S. state of California. Its county seat is Santa Ana. As of the 2010 census, its population was 3,010,232, up from 2,846,293 at the 2000 census, making it the third most populous county in California, behind Los Angeles County and San Diego County...
areas focused on politics, social and personal issues in their music.
Subject matter
Several of the songs on the EP deal with events from the band members' own lives, but presented in a humorous and lighthearted manner. "Urban Struggle" depicts the constant fighting that would occur in the early 1980s Los Angeles/Orange County music scene between the punk rock fans who congregated at a Costa Mesa, California club called the Cuckoo's Nest and the country musicCountry music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
fans who gathered at nearby Zuby's. The song received radio airplay on KROQ-FM
KROQ-FM
KROQ-FM — branded 106.7 KROQ — is a commercial modern rock radio station licensed to Pasadena, California serving the Greater Los Angeles. The call sign is pronounced "kay rock." It is the flagship station of Loveline hosted by Dr...
's Rodney on the ROQ
Rodney Bingenheimer
Rodney Bingenheimer, born December 15, 1947, is a radio disc jockey on the long-running Los Angeles rock station KROQ who is notable for helping numerous iconic bands become successful in the American market. His contribution to the music business has been described as important...
program and was the band's first minor "hit" in the punk community. "The Legend of Pat Brown" is about a friend of the band who was a notorious drunk known for causing mayhem, while "Pirate's Life" tells of riding the Pirates of the Caribbean
Pirates of the Caribbean (theme park ride)
Pirates of the Caribbean is a log flume type of dark ride at the Disneyland, Magic Kingdom, Tokyo Disneyland, and Disneyland Paris theme parks....
ride at Disneyland while taking the drug LSD
LSD
Lysergic acid diethylamide, abbreviated LSD or LSD-25, also known as lysergide and colloquially as acid, is a semisynthetic psychedelic drug of the ergoline family, well known for its psychological effects which can include altered thinking processes, closed and open eye visuals, synaesthesia, an...
. "H.B. Hotel" is a cover of the Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
song "Heartbreak Hotel" with parodied lyrics. Perhaps the most well-known song from the EP is "Anarchy Burger (Hold the Government)," which became something of an anthem for the band and was played at their shows well into the late 1990s. The song gained renewed interest when it was mentioned in the 2002 Vin Diesel
Vin Diesel
Vin Diesel is an American actor, writer, director and producer. He became known in the early 2000s, appearing in several successful Hollywood films, including The Fast and the Furious and xXx...
movie xXx
XXX
XXX may refer to:* The number 30 in Roman numerals* The year 30 AD* Games of the XXX Olympiad, the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London, England* Super Bowl XXX, held on January 28, 1996* A mark indicating "extra strong"* Alcoholic beverages...
.
Track listing
All songs written by The Vandals except where indicated.Performers
- Steven Ronald "Stevo" Jensen - VocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
- Jan Nils Ackermann - guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
- Steve "Human" PfauterSteve PfauterSteve Pfauter is a musician and set dresser and one-time bassist for the Punk rock band The Vandals, from 1980-1984. Steve was born to German immigrants and attended Los Alamitos High, he joined The Vandals in 1980 and played bass guitar on their debut EP, Peace Thru Vandalism...
- bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick.... - Joe EscalanteJoe EscalanteJoseph Patrick "Joe" Escalante is an American musician, record label owner, radio host, film and music video director, and amateur matador, as well as a former television executive and entertainment lawyer...
- DrumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person .... - Brett GurewitzBrett GurewitzBrett W. Gurewitz , nicknamed Mr. Brett, is the guitarist and a songwriter of Bad Religion. He is also the owner of the music label Epitaph Records and sister-labels ANTI-, Burning Heart Records, Fat Possum Records, and Hellcat Records...
- backing vocals on "Anarchy Burger (Hold the Government)"
Album information
- Record label:
- original EPExtended playAn EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
release: Epitaph RecordsEpitaph RecordsEpitaph Records is a Hollywood, California based independent record label owned by Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz. The label was originally "just a logo and a P.O. box" created in the 1980s for the purpose of selling Bad Religion records, but has evolved into a large independent record... - CD re-release: Restless RecordsRestless RecordsRestless Records was started in El Segundo, California in 1981 by Enigma Records and primarly released alternative, metal and punk records. Restless also licensed and released records from Bar/None Records, Metal Blade Records and Mute Records...
(1989), Time Bomb RecordingsTime Bomb RecordingsTime Bomb Recordings is a Laguna Beach, California based record label founded by Social Distortion manager Jim Guerinot in a 1994 joint-venture agreement with Arista Records...
(1995)
- original EP
- Produced by Thom WilsonThom Wilson-Thom Wilson:Thom Wilson is a now-retired American punk rock record producer and engineer.-Career:Wilson began his musical career in the mid-1970s, engineering recordings by soft rock artits Burton Cummings and Seals & Crofts. He began working on punk rock albums in the early 1980s while producing...
- Cover art by Fritz Quadrata and Art Bad