''Peace thru Vandalism'' is the debut EP by the American punk rock band

The Vandals The Vandals are an American punk rock band, established in 1980 in Orange County, California. They have released ten full-length studio albums, two live albums, and have toured the world extensively, including performances on the Vans Warped ...

, released in 1982 by

Epitaph Records Epitaph Records is an American independent record label owned by Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, most acts signed to the label were punk and pop punk acts, while there are many post-hardcore and emo bands ...

. It was one of the first releases to be put out by the Epitaph label, founded in 1981 by

Brett Gurewitz Brett W. Gurewitz (born May 12, 1962), nicknamed Mr. Brett, is an American musician best known as the lead guitarist of Bad Religion. He is also the owner of the music label Epitaph Records and a number of sister labels. He has produced albums f ...

Bad Religion Bad Religion is an American punk rock band that formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1980. The band's lyrics cover topics related to religion, politics, society, the media and science. Musically, they are noted for their melodic sensibilitie ...

. The EP was later released in 1989 on Restless Records featuring the original authorship of the songs as a Vinyl, 12", EP, 33⅓ RPM, Reissue as well as The EP being re-released by

Time Bomb Recordings Time Bomb Recordings was a Laguna Beach, California-based independent record label, founded in 1995 by artist manager Jim Guerinot in a joint-venture agreement with Arista Records. In the following five years, the artist roster grew to encompas ...

in 1989 as a CD that also included the band's first LP, ''

When in Rome Do as the Vandals ''When in Rome Do as The Vandals'' is the first album by the Huntington Beach punk rock band The Vandals, released in 1984 by National Trust Records, Its title is a play on the phrase " When in Rome, do as the Romans do", as the Vandals was also t ...

''. 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'' is a compilation album by the southern California punk rock band The Vandals. It was originally released in 1989 by Restless Records (and later reissued Time Bomb Recordings, a record lab ...

''. 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 ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

and

Orange County Orange County most commonly refers to: *Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area Orange County may also refer to: U.S. counties *Orange County, Florida, containing Orlando *Orange County, Indiana *Orange County, New ...

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 Cuckoos are birds in the Cuculidae family, the sole taxon in the order Cuculiformes . The cuckoo family includes the common or European cuckoo, roadrunners, koels, malkohas, couas, coucals and anis. The coucals and anis are sometimes separa ...

and the

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

fans who gathered at nearby Zubie's. The song received radio airplay on

KROQ-FM KROQ-FM (106.7 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to Pasadena, California, serving Greater Los Angeles. Owned by Audacy, Inc., it broadcasts an alternative rock format known as "The World Famous KROQ" (pronounced "kay-rock"). The stat ...

Rodney on the ROQ Rodney Bingenheimer (born December 15, 1946) is an American radio disc jockey who is best known as the host of ''Rodney on the ROQ'', a radio program that ran on the Los Angeles rock station KROQ from 1976 to 2017. In the early 1970s, he also ma ...

program and was the band's first minor "hit" in the punk community. "The Legend of Pat Brown" is about a Cuckoo's Nest patron who was arrested after he ran over two police officers, while "Pirate's Life" tells of riding the

Pirates of the Caribbean ''Pirates of the Caribbean'' is a Disney media franchise encompassing numerous theme park rides, a series of films, and spin-off novels, as well as a number of related video games and other media publications. The franchise originated with th ...

ride at

Disneyland Disneyland is a amusement park, theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, it was the first theme park opened by The Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. Disney in ...

while taking the drug

LSD Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), also known colloquially as acid, is a potent psychedelic drug. Effects typically include intensified thoughts, emotions, and sensory perception. At sufficiently high dosages LSD manifests primarily mental, vi ...

. "H.B. Hotel" is a cover of the

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

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 Mark Sinclair (born July 18, 1967), known professionally as Vin Diesel, is an American actor. One of the world's highest-grossing actors, he is best known for playing Dominic Toretto in the ''Fast & Furious'' franchise. Diesel began audition ...

movie ''

xXx XXX may refer to: Codes and symbols * 30 (number), Roman numeral XXX * XXX, designating pornography ** XXX, an X rating#United_States, X rating ** .xxx, an internet top-level domain intended for pornographic sites * XXX, a symbol of the straight ...

''. The track "Urban Struggle" has been featured in the film ''

SLC Punk! ''SLCPunk!'' is a 1998 American comedy-drama film written and directed by James Merendino. The film centers around Steven "Stevo" Levy, a college graduate and punk living in Salt Lake City during the mid-1980s. ''SLCPunk!'' was chosen as the open ...

'' and the show '' Jackass'', followed by the second film and game adaptation.

Track listing

All songs written by The Vandals except where indicated.

Performers

* Steven Ronald "Stevo" Jensen -

Vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

* Jan Nils Ackermann -

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

* Steve "Human" Pfauter - bass *

Joe Escalante Joseph Patrick Escalante (born January 30, 1963) is an American television writer, film and television director, musician, radio host, and former television executive. He is known professionally as the bassist and songwriter for the punk rock ...

Drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

- backing vocals on "Anarchy Burger (Hold the Government)"

Album information

*Record label: **original EP release:

** CD re-release:

Restless Records Restless Records is a record label that was started in El Segundo, California in 1986 by Enigma Records and primarily released alternative, metal, and punk records. Restless also licensed and released records from Bar/None Records, Metal Blade R ...

(1989),

(1995) *** EP re-release:

(1989) Restless Records - 7 72327-1Restless Records Catalog number for "Peace Thru Vandalism" with original authorship of songs https://musicbrainz.org/label/573cf520-bd75-4040-8a4a-71f805759139?page=2 *Produced by

Thom Wilson Thom Wilson (died February 8, 2015) was an American punk rock record producer and engineer. Career Wilson began his musical career in the mid-1970s, engineering recordings by soft rock artists Burton Cummings and Seals & Crofts. He began working ...

*Cover art by Fritz Quadrata and Art Bad

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peace Thru Vandalism 1982 debut EPs The Vandals albums Epitaph Records EPs Comedy rock EPs