Almost more than any other genre or sub-genre, hardcore punk is music made by kids, for kids. Which is what makes it slightly strange seeing a band called The Adolescents still going. All of them middle aged and out of shape, with multiple Adolescent-branded fans placed strategically around the stage to make sure they don’t get over heated. It isn’t exactly quintessential punk behaviour.

Once they get going however, all of that drops away and they tear through their set with blistering precision. Rattling out blast beats or chugging bar chord riffs like nobody’s business. Tracks collide into each other. Often starting up a new one before the previous one has entirely slowed down to a halt. Vocalist Tony Cadena’s voice doesn’t have the snotty snarl that it does on record. But he rattles off his lyrics with frantic speed and with a convincing air of pissed off-ness still in tact. They’re still railing against the government. In their youth it was the corporate greed of Reagan’s America. Now they’re taking on the megalomania of Donald Trump’s presidential bid. “I don’t need a goddamn wall!” Cadena shouts during one track, presumably referencing Trump’s absurd wall building proposal to prevent illegal immigration.

Unlike most of their peers, The Adolescents weren’t embarrassed about including a proper chorus or two. While hardcore quickly descended into who could play the fastest and heaviest The Adolescents demonstrated how that intensity could be preserved while also including harmonised backing vocals and not compromising any of their catchiness. This is demonstrated tonight when they launch into their most famous hit ‘Amoeba’. Large swathes of the crowd join in shouting along before they’ve even finished the first bar of the song.

Guitarist Dan Root does some self-conscious twiddling, making sure to throw in exaggerated rock posturing while Cadena throws his hands up in mock admiration. They come back for an encore and deliver a ripping version of ‘Creatures’, the crowd down the front punching the air along to the song’s call and response: “I’m not accepted by my peers” Cadena confesses to us. “So what!” the crowd shouts back in unison. It’s punk through and through, giving those who feel they don’t belong somewhere that they do. Maybe The Adolescents aren’t teenagers anymore, but the teenagers are still listening. So that’s good enough.
Louis Ormesher
Photos by Callum Hurst

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