Agenda!

With their screamed vocals and pulsating garage rock, it is fitting that an exclamation point resides at the end of the name of US outfit the Agenda!, as well as all of their song titles. Originally going by aliases, including fun monikers such as J.R. Suicide, Ian The Face, Digital Dan, Switchblade Stevie, and Ryan Riot, the Agenda! was formed by Justin Robinson (vocals), Ryan Lewis (guitar/vocals), Ian Cone (bass/vocals), Dan Gellar (keyboard/tambourine), and Mat Lewis (drums). The quintet came together during 2001 in their home town of Athens, Georgia, USA. Although the town will forever be associated with college rock icons such as the B-52’s and R.E.M. , Athens found itself with a new crop of promising young bands by the turn of the twenty-first century, with the Agenda! being one of the leading outfits. The Agenda! has roots in other acts however - Gellar makes up one half of the computer duo I Am the World Trade Center, while Robinson is the leader of Mazerati. Both bands share the same label as Agenda!, Kindercore Records, that just happens to be co-run by Lewis and Gellar. Shortly after their formation the Agenda! found a local audience, that spread nationally after a barnstorming performance at Austin, Texas’ renowned South By South West Festival in 2002. Debuting with, ‘Crash! Crash!’ and ‘Are You Nervous?’, the quintet’s adrenalin pumping debut album, Start The Panic, was issued later in 2002 (via the Must Destroy Music label in the UK, Kindercore in the USA). The album caused an immediate buzz in England, resulting in an inaugural European tour in May/June of the following year (dubbed the We’ve Come For Your Birds Tour), alongside the Cramps and the Gore Gore Girls.
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