Living in Darkness

Living in Darkness
Studio album by Agent Orange
Released	1981
Recorded	1979 - September 1981
Genre	Skate punk, hardcore punk, surf rock
Length	19:53 (original) 44:46 (reissue)
Label	Posh Boy Records
Producer	Daniel VanPatten
Agent Orange chronology
Living in Darkness (1981) When You Least Expect It (1983)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]

Living in Darkness is the debut album by the punk rock band Agent Orange, released on Posh Boy Records in 1981. The album showcased the band's innovative mixture of punk, surf rock^[1][2] and skate punk, and was also listed in the "10 Best Skate Punk Records of All Time".^[3]

The original album consisted of eight tracks. In 1992, it was expanded to include three unreleased tracks from the album sessions ("Pipeline", "Breakdown" and "Mr. Moto") as well as the 1979 recordings that won them their Posh Boy contract ("Bloodstains", "America", "Bored of You" and "El Dorado"). A 1981 interview and liner notes written by guitarist Mike Palm were also included in the reissue. In 1988, Agent Orange recorded an as-yet unreleased version of the album, titled Living in Total Darkness.

Three songs are covers of classic surf instrumentals: "Pipeline" by the Chantays, "Miserlou" by Dick Dale and "Mr. Moto" by the Bel-Airs.

"Everything Turns Grey" was featured in the 2001 film Freddy Got Fingered. "Bored of You" was featured in the 2013 open world video game, Grand Theft Auto V, on the Channel X punk rock radio station.

Track listing

All songs written by Mike Palm, except for where noted.

Original 1981 version

Side one

1. "Too Young to Die" – 2:04
2. "Everything Turns Grey" (Palm, James Levesque) – 2:00
3. "Miserlou" (traditional, arranged by Palm) – 2:07
4. "The Last Goodbye" – 2:49

Side two

1. "No Such Thing" – 2:47
2. "A Cry for Help in a World Gone Mad" – 2:09
3. "Bloodstains" – 1:44
4. "Living in Darkness" (Palm, Levesque) – 4:13

CD reissue version

1. "Bloodstains" (original version) – 1:53
2. "Too Young to Die" – 2:04
3. "Everything Turns Grey" (Palm, Levesque) – 2:00
4. "Miserlou" (traditional, arr. Palm) – 2:07
5. "The Last Goodbye" – 2:49
6. "No Such Thing" – 2:47
7. "Cry for Help in a World Gone Mad" – 2:09
8. "Bloodstains" – 1:44
9. "Living in Darkness" (Palm, Levesque) – 4:13
10. "Pipeline" (Brian Carmen, Bob Spickard) – 3:54
11. "Breakdown" (Palm, Steve Soto) – 2:54
12. "Mr. Moto" (Richard Delvy, Paul Johnson) – 1:59
13. "America" – 1:20
14. "Bored of You" – 1:48
15. "El Dorado" – 1:44
16. "Interview 1981" – 9:21

• Tracks 1, 13, and 14 originally from the "Bloodstains" EP (1980)
• Tracks 10-12 originally from the Bitchin' Summer EP (1982)
• Tracks 15-16 originally from the "El Dorado" 7" single (1990)

Personnel

• Mike Palm: guitar/vocals
• James Levesque: bass
• Scott Miller: drums
• Steve Soto: bass (on 1979 tracks)

References