Athens, Georgia band, Vision Video, pay homage to a refined influence and show more of where they're coming from with a splendid rendition of Agent Orange, a post punk classic originally released by British band, Ski Patrol, in 1980.
Through their own version the band explore the parallels between the horrors of Vietnam and current political and social climate in the US, and bring the classic cut to a new generation of political instability, further presenting its timeless qualities and its protesting nature.
Vocalist and guitarist, Dustin Gannon, also a a combat veteran himself, describes his band's connection to the song:
"Agent Orange was a song that I stumbled across a couple years ago when I was writing the initial material that would eventually become Vision Video. I remember the bass line and atonal guitar dissonance immediately drawing me into this bleak and familiar theme of the horror of warfare, which was something I had been acquainted with myself in Afghanistan a few years prior. The song perfectly captured the visceral gut-punched feeling of foreboding doom that I very much felt when I was involved in that war myself. Once Vision Video had formed, we had talked about trying a couple covers, and this Ski Patrol classic just immediately drew into mind. By this time we were a couple of years into the Trump administration and it dawned upon me that this living nightmare was also paralleled (albeit in a different way) in the current American political landscape. The pointed lyrical allegory of 'Agent Orange' , as the chemical weapon used in Vietnam connected well to the current U.S. President undeniably; a caustic, disease causing agent that has destroyed lives and will continue to do so long after it is gone.
"Recording the track with Tom Ashton (of the March Violets, Clan of Xymox, Danse Society) at his Sub Von Studio was especially a treat for us, because his producer's ear really amplified the thematic elements of anger, despair and hopelessness that the song imparts."
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