The Adicts (sometimes also known as Fun Adicts and ADX) are an English Punk Rock band from Ipswich, Suffolk. They are characterized by their use of droog-inspired outfits and lead singer Monkey's clown clothes and makeup, as well as their playful and lighthearted music. They were one of the more accessible Punk Rock/Pop Punk bands of the 80s alongside The Undertones and Buzzcocks, earning them a following with younger audiences and a chart landing with their 1982 album Sound of Music.
The band are still recording and performing to this day. Their current lineup is Keith "Monkey" Warren (vocals), Pete "Pete Dee" Davison (guitar), Michael "Kid Dee" Davison (drums), John "Scruff" Ellis (guitar), and Shahen Hagobian (bass).
Studio Albums:
- Songs of Praise (1981)
- Sound of Music (1982)
- Smart Alex (1985)
- Fifth Overture (1986)
- Twenty-Seven (1992)
- Rise and Shine (2002)
- Rollercoaster (2004)
- Life Goes On (2009)
- All The Young Droogs (2012)
This band provides examples of:
- Anti-Love Song: "How Sad", "Love Sucks"
- Black Comedy: "My Baby Got Run Over By a Steamroller"
- Camp: Certainly for a Punk band.
- Cluster F-Bomb: "Fuck it Up".
- Cover Version: A cover of Rodgers and Hammerstein's "You'll Never Walk Alone" and a faithful cover of The Ramones' "I Wanna Be Sedated" are bonus tracks on the Sound of Music CD reissue.
- Dastardly Dapper Derby: As part of their A Clockwork Orange-inspired outfits.
- Driven to Suicide: "Easy Way Out"
- The '80s
- Genre Roulette: Their albums Rise and Shine onward aren't afraid to drop Punk Rock entirely for some Music Hall silliness like "I Want to Marry a Lighthouse Keeper".
- Fun Personified
- Intercourse with You: "Give it to Me Baby"
- Last Note Hilarity: Inverted on "How Sad", which starts with a goofy carousel organ before cutting suddenly to the band's breakneck Punk Rock sound.
- My Nayme Is: It's "Adicts", not "Addicts".
- Non-Ironic Clown: Monkey. Creepy as he may try to look, the band's music is remarkably upbeat and friendly. Hell, they wouldn't have been allowed on children's TV if he wasn't this.
- Precision F-Strike: The song "Fuck it Up" is this to their relatively clean (if sometimes dark) discography.
- Pop Punk: They primarily play Pop songs loud and fast. They have more in common with The Ramones and Buzzcocks than the Sex Pistols or The Clash.
- Punk Rock: They are also linked to the Oi! and Punk Pathetique subgenres. "Football Fairy Story" from Twenty-Seven even dips into Hardcore Punk.
- Shout-Out: The band's outfits are directly inspired by A Clockwork Orange.
- Silly Love Songs: "I Am Yours", "Angel"
- Three Chords and the Truth
- War Is Hell: "Johnny Was A Soldier", "Battlefield W1"