Collection (1982-1985)

Other than the fact that world skateboarding champion Steve Caballero played guitar and shared bass duties with Ray Stevens II (a member of Los Olvidados and Drunk Injuns), the Faction are noted for their cult hit, “Skate And Destroy,” a punch-throwing anthem inspired from an article by the same title printed in the December 1982 issue of Thrasher magazine, written by C.R. Stecyk (the Venice, California artist and subcultural archivist who documented the revolutionary Zephyr skateboard team also known as DogTown’s Z-Boys). This collection isn’t sequenced chronologically, but it spans three years of the Faction’s recordings, opening with “Tongue Like a Battering Ram,” a riff-heavy assault on a gossipy gal. Gavin O’Brien’s vocals contrast a lazy California drawl with rapid-fire inflections, especially on the hilarious “Fast Food Diet” and “Skate Harassment,” a call to arms against anyone who discriminates against skateboarders. This compilation is mostly thorough, but fan favorites like “A.U.K.” and “Running Amok” are strangely absent.