Answer That And Stay Fashionable

After releasing a string of independent-label singles and EPs between 1993 and 1995, AFI released its debut full-length in August 1995. Recorded at the famed studio of Bay Area punk producer Andy Ernst, *Answer That and Stay Fashionable* includes the reappearance of several beloved tracks from AFI\'s early EPs, including “Rizzo in the Box,” “Cereal Wars,” and “Ny-Quil.” Highly influenced by Northern California punk-pop stalwarts like Screeching Weasel and Swingin’ Utters, AFI embodied adolescent angst with a healthy dose of hyperactive juvenile humor. (Calvin and Hobbes get namedropped on “Cereal Wars,” and the poignant, excitable boy hero of that comic strip was definitely a touch point for AFI early in its career.) In songs about lampooning jocks (“High School Football Hero”) and begging mom to allow punk rock fashions (“I Wanna Get a Mohawk”), AFI ridiculed its suburban punk background even as the band proudly gave voice to the emotions of suburban punk kids. The band’s secret weapon was vocalist Davey Havok, a 20-year-old who could convincingly personify a 13-year-old mid-tantrum.