The Adolescents’ self-titled, debut album turns 40 today. Dropping in the same year as a string of Dischord releases and Black Flag’s Damaged, the Adolescents’ Blue Album (as it’s also known) isn’t as cacophonous as any of those—nor is it as emotionally dark as Agent Orange’s Living in Darkness. None of the 13 songs are blisteringly fast, either. What’s on offer is graze-toned, guitar-driven (hardcore) punk, covering themes of alienation, scenesters, and destruction. “Friends calls me ‘enemy’ ‘cos they’re a fucking joke,” sings Tony Cadena on “Who is Who”; “You didn’t create our scene,” he tells an “L.A. Girl.” “Rip It Up,” meanwhile, tackles violence in the L.A. punk scene, describing it as being “Like Clockwork Orange—a bit of 20-on-1.” The only time the album pr...
