The Vandals are an American punk rock band, established in 1980 in Orange County, California. They have released ten full-length studio albums, three live albums, 3 live DVDs and have toured the world extensively, including performances on the Vans Warped Tour. They are well known for their use of humor, preferring to use their music as a vehicle for comedy and sarcasm rather than as a platform for more serious issues. Kung Fu Records, founded in 1996 by Escalante and Fitzgerald has signed and launched many punk rock bands.
Slippery When Ill is the second album by the Huntington Beach punk rock band The Vandals, released jointly in 1989 by Restless Records and Sticky Fingers Records. It was their first album to include Dave Quackenbush on vocals, who would remain the band's singer for the rest of their career. The album was something of a departure from the punk rock formula of their previous releases, fusing a country and western style with their humorous brand of punk. The result was a sound the band called "cow punk" which somewhat mocked the resurgence in popularity of country music in their native Huntington Beach. Two exceptions were the songs "Shi'ite Punk" and "(Illa Zilla) Lady Killa," which relied heavily on scratch boxes. The latter song was a re-recording of the song "Ladykiller" from the band's previous album When in Rome Do as the Vandals with slightly altered lyrics.
Fear of a Punk Planet is the third album by the southern California punk rock band The Vandals, originally released in 1990 by Triple X Records. It was their first album to include the lineup of Dave Quackenbush, Warren Fitzgerald, Joe Escalante and Josh Freese, solidifying the band's roster after several years of fluctuation. This lineup would remain intact for the rest of the band's career, and for this reason Fear of a Punk Planet is considered by many fans to be the first proper album by the "new" Vandals. The album returned the band to their punk rock sound, after having played mostly in a country style on their previous album Slippery When Ill. The band would stick to a punk rock formula throughout the rest of their career. The album's title called to mind the rap album Fear of a Black Planet by Public Enemy, released that same year. It featured guest appearances by Dweezil and Moon Unit Zappa, Scott Thunes and Kelsey Grammer. An independent music video was filmed for the album's first track, "Pizza Tran."
Oi to the World! is a Christmas album by the southern California punk rock band the Vandals. It was released in 1996 by their label Kung Fu Records, who also re-released it in 2000 with altered artwork and a bonus track. It was the band's sixth full-length studio album and presented holiday-themed songs written and performed with the tongue-in-cheek humor for which the band is known.
Live Fast, Diarrhea is the fourth studio album by the southern California punk rock band The Vandals, released in 1995 by Nitro Records. It was the band's first album for Nitro, a label started and co-owned by Dexter Holland and Greg Kriesel of The Offspring. It was also the first to be produced by Vandals guitarist Warren Fitzgerald, who would continue to produce most of their albums throughout their career, and the first to include Brooks Wackerman, who often substituted for regular drummer Josh Freese. It was a breakthrough release for the band, who would release three more albums on Nitro before moving to their own label Kung Fu Records in 2002.
Sweatin' to the Oldies is a live album and video by the southern California punk rock band The Vandals, originally released in 1994 by Triple X Records. It consists of a live concert recorded at the Ice House in Fullerton, California, as well as interviews with the band members and an overview of their history. The original version was released both on CD and VHS. With most of their back catalogue out of print, the album and video were seen as a retrospective of the band's past, as performed by its most recent stable lineup.
The Quickening is the fifth studio album by the southern California punk rock band The Vandals, released in 1996 by Nitro Records. Much of the album is characterized by themes of nihilism and teen angst, but presented with the tongue-in-cheek humor for which the band is known.
Kung Fu Records is an American independent record label founded in 1996 by Joe Escalante and Warren Fitzgerald of the punk rock band The Vandals. Founded in order to release a record by the Riverside, California band Assorted Jelly Beans, the label soon grew to include a roster of notable artists such as The Ataris, Ozma, Tsunami Bomb, and The Vandals themselves. In 2000 Escalante started Kung Fu Films as a subsidiary of the music label in order to release DVDs of live concerts, music videos, band documentaries, and independent films. In 2005 Kung Fu also spawned the spinoff label Broken Sounds Records, focusing on hardcore releases.
The Vandals Play Really Bad Original Country Tunes is an album by the southern California punk rock band The Vandals, released in 1999 by Kung Fu Records. Essentially a re-release of their 1989 album Slippery When Ill, it contains 8 of the 10 songs from that album along with 2 newer, previously unavailable songs. Part of the impetus for its release was that the original Slippery When Ill, long asked for by the band's fans, had become very rare and difficult to obtain due to the small size of the record labels it was originally released on. With their Kung Fu label now firmly established, the band was able to re-release this music from ten years earlier in their career.
Hitler Bad, Vandals Good is the seventh studio album by the southern California punk rock band The Vandals, released in 1998 by Nitro Records.
Joseph Patrick Escalante 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 band The Vandals, and creator and episodic director of the paranormal travel series Monsters Across America on Fox Nation.
Warren Fitzgerald is an American punk rock guitarist, songwriter, and record label owner. He is best known for being the guitarist of The Vandals and Oingo Boingo. He is also co-founder of Kung Fu Records, along with his Vandals band-mate Joe Escalante.
Glory Daze is a 1995 American independent comedy film written and directed by Rich Wilkes and starring Ben Affleck, Sam Rockwell, Megan Ward, and French Stewart. It also features John Rhys-Davies, Alyssa Milano, and Spalding Gray in supporting roles. The plot concerns five college housemates in Santa Cruz, California who are facing graduation and make an attempt to prolong their carefree lifestyle before going their separate ways. Matthew McConaughey, Meredith Salenger, Matt Damon, Brendan Fraser, and Leah Remini all appear in minor roles. Music for the film was composed and selected by members of the punk rock band The Vandals, and the soundtrack features several punk rock bands of the era.
Internet Dating Superstuds is the ninth studio album by the southern California punk rock band The Vandals. An independent music video was filmed for the song "43210-1."
The Vandals / Assorted Jelly Beans is a split 7-inch record put out by Kung Fu Records in 1996. It was the first release to be put out by the label, which was founded by Vandals members Joe Escalante and Warren Fitzgerald for the purpose of releasing an album by the Huntington Beach band Assorted Jelly Beans. It is therefore appropriate that the label's first release is a split 7-inch with songs from the Vandals on one side and the Assorted Jelly Beans on the other.
Live at the House of Blues is a live album and video by the southern California punk rock band The Vandals, released in 2004 by Kung Fu Records and Kung Fu Films. It was the band's second official live album and video, the first being 1991's Sweatin' to the Oldies. It was released in 2 packages, one a DVD with a bonus concert CD, the other a CD with a bonus DVD. Both packages contain the same discs and material, merely packaged differently so that it could be stacked on both CD and DVD shelves. It was presented as episode 9 of Kung Fu Films' The Show Must Go Off! live concert DVD series. Kung Fu Films is an offshoot of Kung Fu Records, the record label started in 1996 by Vandals members Joe Escalante and Warren Fitzgerald. Having previously worked in the television and film industries, Joe Escalante acts as director and producer for nearly all of these live DVD releases.
Shingo Japanese Remix Album is an album of songs by the southern California punk rock band The Vandals remixed and re-interpreted by Japanese DJ Shingo Asari, released in 2005 by Kung Fu Records. Asari had been tinkering with Vandals songs for several years and had sent several of his remixes to Kung Fu, who had posted them on their website for Vandals fans to download. The band was impressed by his takes on their songs and used a remixed medley he had made of many of their most popular songs as an introduction to their live shows. Finally in 2005 Shingo was given license to remix several newer Vandals songs and to release them as an album through Kung Fu.
Assorted Jelly Beans is the first album by Assorted Jelly Beans. It was released in 1996 by Kung Fu Records. According to KungFu Records, it has sold over 25,000 copies, and was the first release from Kung Fu Records.
Punk Rock is Your Friend: Kung Fu Records Sampler #5 is the fifth compilation album by the Seal Beach, California record label Kung Fu Records, released in 2004. It features artists signed to the label at the time, as well as others who were not signed to the label but had participated in some of their releases such as The Show Must Go Off! live DVD series. It also includes audio clips from the Kung Fu Films movie Cake Boy interspersed between the songs. It is an enhanced CD-ROM that also includes several music videos.
The discography of The Vandals, a punk rock band formed in Huntington Beach, California, in 1980, consists of ten studio albums, one EP, two live albums, two compilation albums, one remix album, four reissued albums, three videos, four singles, and seven music videos.
