Standing In The Doorway Of Cloud Nine--The Avengers--Essential Punk Rock

The Avengers' Pink Album is one of the greatest American Punk albums ever. It is up there with X, The Ramones, Pere Ubu, Television, Dead Boys, Husker Du, Blondie, Replacements. I'll be succinct. If you are into this music, go to the Penelope Houston/Avengers website. You can get it for 9.99. It's unfortunate that this album has been commercially unavailable. Some label tried to put out an unauthorized version recently, and Penelope's website has mentioned that they have filed a big lawsuit against the company. So for the time being that is the place to get this essential must-have music.

As I had mentioned in one of my first blogposts, I had the pleasure of seeing The Avengers perform at the 30th Anniversary party for The Big Takeover Magazine (Issue #67 hot off the presses-Teenage Fanclub on cover). After all these years they are still great! They blow away much of today's artists even now. I've wanted to see this band for years and it finally happened! Penelope Houston is a punk rock icon and Greg Ingraham exudes rock and roll from his very essence. This band should be one of those names that come up when you think of American Punk and this album is in my view, the second best American Punk album of the 70's after The Ramones first, edging out X. The two main reasons the band remains obscure to many are the unfortunate association with the dodgy label CD Presents, and relatively short lifespan of the band. Back then there were many great punk bands on the West Coast that never made an actual studio album, only a few singles printed in small numbers if not at all. These artists didn't have the money for studio time, and the major labels did not consider such act to be financially viable

Album begins with the power anthem We Are The One, an exhilarating and serious punk statement of purpose. We are here, so get out of the way because a new generation is about to take the helm. Without all the stupid baggage of the past. A lot of sacred cows get skewered on this album. Another stone cold classic is the empowering I Believe In Me, an aggressive shove against the opprobrium the general public felt about punks in that era. One of my favorite Avengers numbers is the pleading Open Your Eyes.

At first I thought you were dead

But now I see you're one of the rest...

They drugged you with muzak and TV sedation

You're one of the Blank Generation!

Equally great is Thin White Line, with its "Don't Go, Don't Go" chorus. It's a cautionary tale about the personal price exacted by fame and fortune. I think the thin white line reference speaks for itself.

I'm riding on a thin white line
Standing in the doorway of Cloud Nine
And you see me in the window
Of a chauffeured limousine
You see me on the TV, radio and the magazine
Don't ask me how I feel
Or if I'm coming home

I would be remiss in this post if I didn't mention the other members that comprise this great and criminally ignored band. James Wilsey is on bass and backing vocals. On drums is Danny Furious, who also sings backing vocals. Without their great contributions this album would not be the punk masterpiece I am extolling here. Notably The Avengers also perform an excellent high energy version of The Stones' Paint It Black on this record. Other great songs represented here are Desperation, Corpus Christi, No Martyr, and The American In Me.

So if you like punk rock, you need this one. They are the closest thing I know of to an American Sex Pistols, without being a slavish imitation. Because Penelope Houston is such a dynamic and singular performer they could not be anything other than a unique product. On rare occasions, The Avengers get back together and perform brief tours, but I wish they would go in the studio and put out some new material. It would be interesting to see this bands views refracted through 30 years of American history. They can't and shouldn't try to go back and tap into that youthful change the world attitude, but I know that they would still have some invaluable insight about our New World Order and the state of our modern society. But for the time being give the pink album a spin and see if you agree with my opinions too.