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 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. As of 2000, they are signed to Kung Fu Records.
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.
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 anarchism, but presented with the tongue-in-cheek humor for which the band is known.
The Ataris are an American punk rock band from Anderson, Indiana. Formed in 1996, they released five studio albums between 1997 and 2007. Their best-selling album is So Long, Astoria (2003), which was certified gold. Their high-charting single is the cover song "The Boys of Summer" from So Long, Astoria. The only constant member throughout their history has been singer/songwriter/guitarist Kristopher Roe.
The Art of Drowning is the fifth studio album by American rock band AFI. It was released on September 19, 2000, through Nitro Records.
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.
Hollywood Potato Chip is the tenth studio album by the Southern California punk rock band The Vandals, released in 2004 by Kung Fu Records. A music video starring guitarist and producer Warren Fitzgerald was filmed for the band's cover version of Queen's "Don't Stop Me Now". The album's title is a euphemism for dried semen on a casting couch. Its original cover art used lettering that parodied the logo of Variety, prompting legal action and a cease and desist order from the magazine which resulted in a replacement cover with redesigned lettering. In 2010 the magazine brought further legal action against the band over third-party uses of the original cover appearing on the internet.
Brooks Wackerman is an American musician and songwriter. He is the current drummer of heavy metal band Avenged Sevenfold, which he joined in 2015. His first album with Avenged Sevenfold was The Stage (2016). He is most known as the former and longest-standing drummer of American punk rock band Bad Religion.
Rufio was an American rock band from Rancho Cucamonga, California, United States, in 2000. They released four studio albums: Perhaps, I Suppose (2001); MCMLXXXV (2003); The Comfort of Home (2005); and Anybody Out There (2010).
Joshua Ryan Freese is an American session drummer. He is the son of tuba soloist Stan Freese and the older brother of musician Jason Freese.
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.
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."
That Darn Punk Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is a soundtrack album to the 2001 independent film That Darn Punk. The film was released by Kung Fu Films and starred Joe Escalante of the punk rock band The Vandals as the lead character. Escalante is also in charge of Kung Fu Films and Kung Fu Records, which put out the film's soundtrack. The label was co-founded by Escalante and Vandals guitarist Warren Fitzgerald, who also appears in the film. In fact, all the members of the Vandals appear in the film as the fictional band the Big Tippers, alongside several other punk rock personalities. The soundtrack album was released to coincide with the release of the film, which went straight to video on VHS and DVD formats.
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.
BBC Sessions and Other Polished Turds is a compilation album by The Vandals, released August 12, 2008 by Kung Fu Records. It was released as a digital download through iTunes and the band's website, as well as on CD in Japan, and finally on CD and Vinyl in the US in 2019. The album collects rare songs by the band from compilations and out-of-print singles, as well as five songs recorded during various sessions at the BBC. It was promoted as "A collection of the band's most rare tracks all sharing one thing in common in that they were recorded when the band didn't give a crap, so they are fun, funny, and unpretentious".
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