The Avengers-S/T

In a perfect world, Penelope Houston’s name would be next to such recognized artists as Chrissie Hynde or P.J. Harvey, particularly because her work with The Avengers essentially helped paved the way for other women in the rock and roll landscape. But reality is a funny thing, and the reality is that The Avengers were only around for a couple of years and, during that time together, only managed to release a single and an e.p.

In 1983, San Francisco’s CD Presents released a posthumous album that compiled The Avengers’ proper releases and other career highlights. Simply entitled “The Avengers,” this record is becoming close to a forgotten classic when it deserved to be in the same breath as The Pretenders’ first album in terms of influence.
Unlike The Pretenders, “The Avengers” makes no attempt at lyrical cleverness. This is primitive punk rock music, written by a 19 year-old young woman, and performed by musicians with a much passion and anger as the band who made a similar racket across the pond around the same time: The Sex Pistols. Not surprisingly, The Avengers actually opened for the Pistols on their final performance in San Francisco and their 1978 e.p. was produced by Pistols guitarist Steve Jones.
“We Are The One” starts off the record with some slashing guitar chords from Greg Ingraham while Houston does a fairly good job at rallying anyone under the age of 21 with her declaration of “I am the one who shows you the future/I am the one who buries the past.” There’s something entirely refreshing about this youthful exuberance and it can be found throughout the record, even on their curious cover of “Paint It Black.”
“The American In Me” is the showcase track, and it remains completely relevant in today’s headlines. “It’s the American in me/Says it’s an honor to die/In a war that’s just a politician’s lie” sounds pretty angry for 1978, and pretty prophetic over a quarter-century later.
CD Presents went under in the late 80’s, making prices for the “official” self-titled album hovering around $75 for used copies. There are plans for reissuing this classic album, along with the band’s infamous Winterland concert opening for the Pistols, but for the time being, people interested in obtaining a high-quality cdr copy of the release can get it for more reasonable prices at Penelope Houston’s website.
As for Houston, she changed gears completely and undertook a more acoustic direction, releasing some very good efforts while adhering to a strict d.i.y. ethic. She’s currently re-teamed with Greg Ingraham and is touring the country under the Avengers moniker (sometimes known as scAvengers), providing an opportunity for younger audiences to witness a band that most certainly needs more recognition than it managed to get during their initial run.