Everything turns Orange

SoCal’s Agent Orange slipped into the scene in 1979 with an eccentric mix of punk and surf rock. Unlike the scores of hard-core punkers they were associated with, Agent Orange had catchy melodies and Mike Palm’s pure pop vocal style. The trio’s first album, 1981’s Living in Darkness, of which later pressings include the surf classics “Pipeline,” “Miserlou” and “Mr. Moto,” essentially invented the skate-rock subgenre; then an appearance in the pioneer skateboarding video Skate Visions made official royalty of them to thousands of clueless skaters who’ve been aggravating business owners and old people ever since. Although AO’s recording output has been spotty and the lineup often changed, the band has stayed around for all these years. All that’s different now are shitloads of sponsorships, covering everything from guitars, amps, strings and drums to skate trucks and hoodies.