Agent Orange played a rare set at the Echoplex in Echo Park on April 22 as part of a rather strange bill that included TRMRS and Black Apples. Formed in 1979, Agent Orange are one of the earliest surf punk bands to emerge from Orange County. With founding member Mike Palm as the only mainstay member of the band, which has featured a number of distinguished players such as Steve Soto from the Adolescents who played bass on the classic "Blood Stains" single, Agent Orange are one of the most seminal bands in the So Cal punk scene. (Local L.A. punk band A Pretty Mess frequently covers "Blood Stains" which has also been covered by L7) Joined by current drummer Dave Klein from the Ghastly Ones and bass player Perry Giordano, Agent Orange played a number of songs from the first album Living in Darkness including "Everything Turns Grey", "The Last Goodbye" and the title-track "Living in Darkness" as well as their cover of the Bel-Airs Mr. Moto which pretty much set the standard for surf punk. Palm was in particularly good form in front of the small but enthusiastic crowd. Remarking on how females seemed to be dominating the slam pit in front of the stage, Palm dedicated a cover of the Jefferson Airplane hit "Somebody to Love" to the girls in the pit. They finished off the evening with an edge-y but faithful cover of "Shakin’ All Over", a song originally written and performed by U.K. band Johnny Kidd & the Pirates in 1960 and made famous in the states by Chad Allen & the Expressions who later changed their name to the Guess Who.
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