Agression was an American rock band from Silver Strand Beach, Oxnard, California, and considered[who?] one of the most influential founding bands of the Nardcore sound within the hardcore punk scene.
Agression was very well known for its fast-paced, aggressive songs such as "Slammin' at the Club", "Money Machine", "Intense Energy", "Never Alone", "Go to War", and "Locals Only".
Agression was an American rock band from Silver Strand Beach, Oxnard, California, and considered[who?] one of the most influential founding bands of the Nardcore sound within the hardcore punk scene, and after JFA (Jodie Foster's Army) and the Big Boys are an early proponent of the "skate punk" genre, that fused the skate culture with the punk scene- featuring a song about skateboarding (Intense Energy), and the Glen Friedman photo of Arthur Lake skating a pool as album art on the cover of their first and most popular album, "Don't be Mistaken".
History
The original band members were:
- Mark Hickey (Birth name: Mark Rodemaker)- vocals
- Henry Knowles - guitar
- "Big" Bob Clark - bass guitar
- Bruce. W - drums
Agression was part of the first wave of skatepunk bands to emerge from southern California in the early '80s. These groups were on the front lines of a new union between the skateboard and punk rock cultures, which were put on a path to convergence by the establishment hassling each group. The resulting music was a confluence of punk's anger and simplicity, the furious speed of hardcore, and defiantly smart-assed machismo. Emerging out of Oxnard, CA (which was such a hotbed of punk and skate bands that their sound became known as "Nardcore"), Agression consisted of the two founding members, vocalist Mark Hickey, and guitarist Henry Knowles, along with bassist Bob Clark, and drummer Mark Aber. Aber was NOT the original drummer, as listed above. He's tried to resurrect the band to the chagrin of all those who are die-hard Agression fans.
Before their days as punk icons, in 1979 singer Mark Hickey, guitarist Henry Knowles, and bassist Bob Clark skated for Sims. (Source, Thrasher Magazine, July 2005) In this article Clark claims to be a co-founding member of Agression, whether he was or not is a minor and arguably irrelevant issue. Although Clark was verifiably close friends with Hickey and Knowles at the time, Hickey contradicts this claim in an interview with The Hooligan magazine. (Source: The Hooligan, issue Summer 1996) Regardless, Clark was the original and most senior bassist according to the timeline of lineups and albums released with his participation. Big Bob, Mark and Henry were roommates. How much more does anyone want? The unit was one of the first groups to be involved with the Better Youth Organization (BYO) – the collective started by Shawn and Mark Stern of Youth Brigade—and contributed three songs, "Intense Energy", "Dear John Letter" and "Rat Race" to Someone Got Their Head Kicked In, the label's classic 1982 compilation.
Don't Be Mistaken, their debut full length, was released on BYO in 1983, chock-full of rapid-fire skatepunk rhythms. Contributions to various Mystic Records compilations followed, with Agression's sound wavering between skatepunk and more generic heavy metal; a self-titled LP on that label appeared in 1985, as did the "official" bootleg of an Agression show at the New York club CBGB.
Agression was able to get as far as CBGB with the aid of their manager, Scott Hatch, who also managed the more established hardcore outfit Fear. As Hickey said at the time, it was difficult not to appreciate the coolness of "Agression" and "Fear" listed on one bill. Aber left the group in 1985 for a spot with Angry Samoans. (Source: All Music Guide, Loftus. Article only partially quoted because of inaccuracy about band history.)
Agression went through many iterations of band members, with vocalist Mark Hickey being the only original member remaining throughout the band's career.
Pushing on, Agression relocated from Oxnard, California, to a more central location in Denver, Colorado as its home base in the late 80's. Henry Knowles (guitar) left the band after a few years in Colorado, returning to California. A short while after this, bassist Bob Clark also left the band. For a short time, Agression went on hiatus as new members were sought out.
The remaining members in Colorado were Mark Hickey, and Mike Minnick, A.K.A. "Fluffy Machete" (Drums). Minnick was well known in the So-Cal punk scene as the former drummer of another influential California band, Ill Repute.
To fill the large vacuum left by the loss of Henry Knowles, in 1992, Hickey permanently added his friend and locally well known guitar virtuoso Kent Taylor, and went through several fill-in bassists including "Jelly Roll" (Real name unknown), and Conrad Sear, before finally settling on bassist Adam Pittman A.K.A. "Commander Adama" as a permanent addition to the band. Sear was temporarily retained for a short period as a rhythm guitarist, and left the band soon thereafter.
With the new Colorado lineup, Agression began touring again, and recorded two albums, "Nowhere to Run" (Recorded at the Peak Lounge studio in Denver, High Five Records, 1995, Lineup: Hickey, vox, Taylor, lead guitar, Minnick, drums, Conrad Sear, rhythm guitar, Pittman, bass guitar.), and "Live at the Lair", (Same lineup, minus Sear) a very rare and never widely released live album recorded in the infamous Denver punk club, the "Lion's Lair". Where Knowles left off as the main writer of music in the band while Hickey penned the lyrics, bassist Adam Pittman picked up the responsibility after "Nowhere to Run" was released.
Agression had been flirting with a more "crossover" metal sound for many years, so after "Nowhere to Run", Pittman and Hickey tried to swing the band back into its more melodic punk heritage with the new music. (Pittman was the youngest member of the band and a fan of their oldest material. Source: KPFR radio interview, July, 1995) Several of the new songs can be heard on the "Live at the Lair" recording. While they lack the surf style of the early Agression material, the swing back to their punk roots is noticeable, in a speedier, more melodic style than the material between "Don't Be Mistaken, and "Nowhere to Run".
In 1997, longtime drummer Mike Minnick left the band to pursue other musical projects. Minnick has since made a name for himself as a drummer in the Rockabilly scene, and continues his playing in several projects to this day.
With the loss of their drummer, Agression also lost its practice space and base of operation in his converted studio basement. The band continued touring temporarily with replacement drummer Brian, (Last name unknown) a friend and neighbor of Hickey, making their new practice space in the six unit converted Victorian mansion Hickey lived in at the time, known locally as the "Gaylord House", owing its moniker to the name of the street (Gaylord St.) the house sits on.
As the band struggled to adjust to the new rhythm section, a new, "politically correct" attitude had developed within the punk scene. This attitude caused Agression newfound trouble in several different ways.
The distinctive "bar-s" logo the band used since 1981, designed by artist Jamie Hernandez (Illustrator of the comic Love and Rockets) resembling a black bar with a single lightning-bolt style S, or more accurately, the Sig, or Sowilo Germanic rune meaning "sun", or "victory" offset to the left of the bar, was misunderstood by many of the younger members of the punk scene. The logo was mistaken for a NAZI "SS" symbol, and rumors circulated that the band were racists, NAZI's, or white supremacists. This was compounded by Hickey's self identification as a "Traditional Skinhead".
Although the traditional Skinhead culture was multi-racial, and had its roots in Jamaican ska, the shaved head, Doc Marten's, and braces worn by traditional Skinheads were difficult to distinguish by others as a similar look had been adopted by the new NAZI Skinheads that had made violent news and much trouble in the punk scene during the '80s and '90s.
Despite the fact that Agression's lyrics were non political, (and even positive at times) had at one time had an African-American drummer, (John Mitchell, who recorded at least one full length and an EP with the band in the mid-eighties) and co-founding original member Henry Knowles was of Japanese descent, the rumors persisted.
Compounding the problem, some NAZI skinheads themselves mistook Agression for a band sympathetic to their unpopular cause and showed up regularly to Agression concerts, causing problems with the fans and the venue owners. Agression was forced in many places to hire an inordinate amount of security, or barred from playing altogether.
This forced Agression to play shows under the name "Nightbreed" in some places, in order to avoid the trouble that had arisen by the very problematic misunderstanding.
Agression disbanded in 1998 after the multitude of problems with booking and difficulty adjusting to the loss of Minnick as drummer caused practices and shows to become fewer and farther apart, until Hickey finally pulled the plug in June 1998. (Unofficially, Hickey Taylor and Pittman never formally called it "quits", but the band never re-emerged after that summer.)
Vocalist Mark Hickey continued playing in his side project, "Hickey Blues", a blues band that included many members of the Agression lineup. Hickey was an accomplished harmonica player, and Agression fans can hear a bit of his harmonica used on the 1995 Agression album "Nowhere to Run", on the songs "Spinning Terror", and the revised version of the classic Agression hit, "Money Machine".
Guitarist Kent Taylor went on to form a local punk band called "Praise God and Pass the Ammunition", and continues his playing in various projects, including as a studio guitarist.
Bassist Adam Pittman A.K.A. "Commander Adama" went on to form the band "Negative Man" which enjoyed moderate success in the international punk scene for its three year span. Many songs on the self-titled first album, "Negative Man" (CD, AMP Records 1999, 2005) were written while Pittman was with Agression, and were intended as Agression songs. (In particular the Negative Nan songs "Runaway", and "Fun and Games" can be heard on Agression's "Live at the Lair" with the original lyrics penned by Hickey as "Happy Dope" and "When")
The new millennium brought about the unfortunate deaths of two of its original, and founding members: Mark Hickey in 2000, due to acute liver failure, and Henry Knowles lost to leukemia in 2002.
In mid-2002, a "Henry Knowles Memorial Show" took place at Skatelab, in Simi Valley, California, featuring the "Nardcore All-Stars" (who did an all-Agression song set list), Rejected Society, The Missing 23rd, Dr. Know and Ill Repute, among others.
Though it is unclear who currently owns the rights to the name, a band calling itself Agression has recently[when?] been formed with original bass guitarist Big Bob Clark. On rare occasions they play shows on the West Coast.
To this day, many bands are still highly influenced by the sound of Agression. The high-energy, surf guitar influenced sound and the distinctive voice of vocalist Mark Hickey set them apart from the rest of their contemporaries with their very unique sound and attitude.[citation needed]
Recently,[when?] Dr. Strange records has released a tribute to Agression titled Taking Out A Little Agression featuring many of their contemporaries along with modern bands covering Agression songs.
In October 2006, several former members of Agression played the Spike Fest in Long Beach. This lineup consisted of Big Bob Clark, Mark Aber, Rob Thacker (who played with Henry's lineup), Dave Haro, and JellyRoll for a few songs. This continued in November for two shows in Northern California.
From June 14–17, 2007, the same lineup minus JellyRoll performed in Northern California in a four-day tour to celebrate the release of the Agression tribute compilation. This release is out on Dr. Strange Records on CD and vinyl, and was expected to be available in stores worldwide on July 24, 2007. This compilation is dedicated to all those who have ever played in Agression along the years. Track # 28 is a song called "What Did I Do", which was written and recorded by Henry Knowles a couple years before he died.
Discography
- Better Youth Organization Presents - Someone Got Their Head Kicked In, Compilation LP (BYO, 1982)
- Don't Be Mistaken, LP (BYO 1983)
- Copulation - The Sound of Hollywood, Compilation LP (Mystic, 1984)
- Nardcore, Compilation LP (Mystic, 1984)
- Agression Bootleg LP, LP (Mystic/Bootleg 1985)
- Agression, LP (Mystic 1985)
- Live Underground Railroad, 7" (Mystic 1986)
- Best of Agression, CD (Mystic 1995)
- Nowhere to Run, CD (High Five Records 1995)
- Live at the Lair, CD (High Five Records 1996)
- Full Circle, CD (Cleopatra Records 2003)
- Locals Only: Live, CD (Mystic 2005)
References
- All Music Guide, Loftus
- KPFR radio interview, July, 1995, Hickey, Pittman, Minnick, Taylor and Sear
- Hooligan Magazine, 1996 article: "Interview with Mark Hickey"
- PEAK radio interview 1995 by DJ Sam Stock with Hickey, Minnick
- Totalpunk web radio Negative Man information page
Mark Hickey retired to Denver, CO in the late 1990s. In his last years, he was seen at many Denver, CO Punk shows, especially, his good friends, Buzz Bomber and the M~80s where he was beaten severely in an ambush at their show in 2000, shortly before his death. The incident is not believed to have contributed to his untimely death.
Buzz Bomber, Mike '420' Mayhem and Jack Shit, all of M~80s fame immediately stopped their performance to assist Hickey. He emerged from the incident with only minor injuries.
