The Agenda!
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The Agenda!

Athens, Georgia, United States

Athens, Georgia, United States
Band Alternative Punk

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"The Agenda! @ Cine - AthFest 2009"

Back in 2002, The Agenda got together messily, got together wildly. The band was a short-lived one, but lively, and the finest example of the unleashing of Athens' Kindercore Records from its more precious pop past. For a few years the band ripped a snarling swath through garage rock, bridging early '70s rock and roll's melodic insistence with the thrusting swagger of '80s punk. Dudes called it quits back in '04 or so, but five years on seemed time enough for a reunion show, and AthFest the reason.

To be honest, The Agenda never quite did it for me back in the day. It was a matter of personal taste, but the band's garage punk always leaned a little more towards the latter for my taste, with frontman Justin Robinson's vocal flailings sometimes satisfying but more often than not grating. Scratch all that, though; I don't know if the band felt the need to practice more for this show (when you're a regularly gigging band in town, it can be pretty tempting to coast), or maybe I've loosened up, but Saturday's show at Ciné was one of the finer Agenda shows I've seen.

Ryan Lewis' guitar in particular stripped, shook and shredded the place. In a town with as many Beatles- and Stones-dependent acts as there are, it's refreshing to see a band that conjures thoughts of The Who and that band's ability to fuse '60s pop with arena swagger and serious guitar bombast. They're more seldomly acknowledged as an influence here in Athens, but are a foundation tying together groups as seemingly disparate as The Agenda, The Whigs and Drive-By Truckers. If you weren't at the show you could try to track down a copy of the band's disc Start the Panic, but even it doesn't capture the energy and dedication the band put on display Saturday night. Ciné's performance/meeting space (they call it the "Lab Room") is an obstacle for bands, with harsh sound, bad lighting and overwhelmingly white walls, but The Agenda was able to jump those hurdles with no problem. And an unhinged version of Superchunk's "Slack Motherfucker" to close? Guitar nostalgia doesn't come more nostalgic than that. - The Flagpole


"The Agenda Sets Its Sights On Panic (2002)"

Every now and again Athens falls all over a band that seems to have come out of thin air. Such is the case with the town's newest darling The Agenda. Originally formed by singer Justin Robinson and keyboardist Dan Geller, the idea behind the band was simply "to make danceable punk rock." Soon, however, the two realized they needed to flesh out the lineup to really get what they wanted.

Enter Ryan Lewis. The longtime Athens musician and Kindercore Records owner (along with Geller) was interested in what The Agenda was doing and signed on to play guitar. Lewis then enlisted Steve Scarborough
agenda.jpg and Ian Cone to handle drums and bass respectively. It is this lineup that has carried The Agenda from an idea to a trashy rock phenomenon.

Taking more than a little from bands such as Nation Of Ulysses, The MC5 and Buzzcocks, the band still manages to cut through the mediocrity that so many others foster when they wear their influences on their sleeves. Robinson, in particular, was very clear about the type of band he wanted to be in. "All the bands I was in in high school were your typical punk and hardcore bands that didn't do anything," he says. "With this band I wanted fashion and youth culture as a political statement."

Indeed, Robinson was even asked to join Lewis' previous rock band, The Four Corners. He turned down the offer because he "didn't want to be in a band that [he] didn't start."

The Agenda's most recent gig at the 40 Watt, during the "Back To School Rock and Roll Bash" was, sadly, Scarborough's second to last time with the band. He will continue to pound out a beat for another one of the finest bands to emerge in the past few years, Maserati. Mat "Yes, One T" Lewis (Ryan's younger brother) has recently moved to Athens from Maryland and will take over the drummer's seat. He also does time in DC area bands The Pocket Rockets and Max Levine Ensemble.

It should come as no surprise that The Agenda - which booked a showcase at SXSW 2002 without a demo, recorded and mixed its album in three and a half days with Dave Barbe and has already played to hundreds of people within 10 months after its first tenuous practices - is headed out on a two month tour of the States. After going all the way out West and back, the band takes the month of December off and then heads to Europe in January. Unfortunately, Cone will have to lay out of the European leg and his bass duties will be picked up by Jet By Day's David Matysiak. It's really no wonder why Lewis, who is constantly busy and headed towards workaholics anonymous, says, "This is the most fun I've had with any band I've ever been in."

Lewis also proved without question his rock and roll gusto when, during the last Agenda set at the 40 Watt, he literally jumped off-stage and chased a guy down the street for, unbelievably, punching his fiancée after she tried to prevent him from stealing a guitar strap off the stage. After a few well placed blows to the guy, Lewis came back to the 40 Watt and enjoyed the rest of the night. Sometimes a little violence, a little rock and roll and a whole lot of liquor just makes the night all right.

If you've already gotten your copy of The Agenda's new album Start The Panic, or have seen the group live, then you know what to expect: trashy, arm-banded, emphatic, desperate and, dammit, a hell of a lot of fun. That's what The Agenda is all about. At least, that's my take on it. Go see for yourself and then tell it to the judge.

Gordon Lamb
- The Flagpole (2002)


"The Agenda! - Start The Panic! Review"

Punk-charged garage rock with a new wave flavor, The Agenda! deliver a wickedly ferocious record with Start The Panic, a chaotic collision of sound and noise that will bring punkers and garage rockers even closer together, with the new wave fans even smiling because The Agenda! seem to offer it all. They write sweaty, moving, fun songs that scream at you and beg to be screamed back at. This is the epitome of rock 'n' roll - rebellious, care free, and loose, but played with so much passion, it doesn't matter. When the guitars slice through you with their razor sharp riffs and then the vocals lick the wounds with their piss and vinegar cries, you'll know why The Agenda! embody rock. I'll give this an A-. - In Music We Trust


"The Agenda! - Xray Magazine (UK)"

superb 5/5:
Screaming out of Athens, Georgia in the winter of '02, The Agenda quickly made a name for themselves with a three month tour of the U.S and a pair of long-gone 7" releases; their hi-octane frat-punk blasts and chaotic live show earning them favourable comparisons with such dance-party punk rockers as The Sonics, The Nation of Ulysses, The Mummies, Delta 72 and The Stooges.

The band's performance at this year's South By Southwest was one of the talking points of the event and saw Emo's packed to the rafters with queues around the block; The Agenda's sweat-drenched set a maelstrom of flying beer bottles and blood. Recently back from a 3 week tour of packed clubs in the UK, The Agenda is now set to release their second single from "Start the Panic" in the UK and will return in August to play the legendary Reading and Leeds festivals. - XRay (UK)


"The Agenda! - NME (UK)"

The Agenda are a genetic cross-pollination between The Cooper Temple Clause, The Hives and The Icarus Line. Their frontman is a one-man "Jackass", jumping off speaker stands and sliding along the glass-strewn floor. Unmissable.

The world would be a much better place if more bands made records like this. - NME


Discography

The Agenda - Crash! Crash! 7" - With An X (WAX) Records - 2001

The Agenda - I Want the Panic - 7" - Kindercore - 2001

The Agenda - Start The Panic - CD - Kindercore Records (US) / Must Destroy Music (UK) 2002

The Agenda - I Want the Panic - 7"/ CD Single - Must Destroy Music (UK) - 2003

The Agenda - Do the Crash! Crash!- 7"/ CD Single - Must Destroy Music (UK) - 2003

The Agenda - Strike Like a Viper - 7" - Must Destroy Music - (UK) - 2004

Photos

Bio

Tracing their debut to an infamously raucous Athens house party in early 2002, The Agenda saw a rapid rise to become one of the most popular bands on the recent Athens scene. Guitarist Ryan Lewis and bassist Dan Geller act as proprietors of Kindercore Records, the most successful of Athens local labels, and such ties landed The Agenda a slot at the labels sold out showcase during 2002s prestigious South By South West music fest in Austin, TX, earning the fledgling band instant cred on the indie rock scene. The Agendas debut album, Start the Panic is a clamorous collection of punk and garage rock tunes that forges new ground for Kindercore, a label which cut its teeth as an outlet for the melody-driven pop groups that defined the Athens sound of the late 1990s. The record has met with gushing reviews in the European press and the band has since struck out on an overseas European tour. Playing the Reading and Leeds festivals as well as other high profile gigs.

Each of the 11 songs on the album is appropriately punctuated with an exclamation point and the band even purports a deliberately over-the-top manifesto declaring, We live for the moment!... We combat the boredom the only way we know how, with the power of young lust and rock n roll!...We are the arrogant hooligans of chaos and disorder withthe sonic boom of electric guitars!