Agression

Agression ranked among the earliest skatepunk outfits to surface from southern California at the start of the 1980s. Shared friction with authorities helped fuse the skateboard and punk communities, producing a hybrid that blended punk’s raw fury and directness, hardcore’s breakneck tempo, and an unapologetically sarcastic bravado.

Oxnard, California, served as the band’s base, a locale so saturated with similar groups that the regional style acquired the label “Nardcore.” Vocalist Mark Hickey, guitarist Henry Knowles, bassist Bob Clark, and drummer Mark Aber formed the lineup. They ranked among the first acts aligned with the Better Youth Organization, the collective launched by Shawn Stern and Mark Stern of Youth Brigade, and supplied two tracks to the imprint’s landmark 1982 anthology Someone Got Their Head Kicked In.

Don’t Be Mistaken appeared in 1983, brimming with rapid skatepunk tempos. Subsequent spots on Mystic Records collections found the sound shifting between skatepunk and more conventional heavy metal, resulting in a self-titled Mystic LP in 1985 and an authorized bootleg documenting a CBGB performance the same year. Manager Scott Hatch, who also handled Fear, made the New York booking possible; Hickey observed that sharing a bill with “Agression” and “Fear” carried an unmistakable cool factor.

Aber exited in 1985 to join Angry Samoans, after which the group lost momentum. Further Mystic live documents proved unable to restore the original sneering intensity, and the band eventually dissolved. Hickey abandoned music and relocated to Colorado. Knowles initiated a reunion in 2000 that brought Hickey back, yet liver failure took Hickey before any new material could be captured. Knowles continued with additional longtime associates until leukemia claimed him in August 2002. Cleopatra issued the career overview Full Circle in spring 2003, appending supplementary live recordings.