POP BEAT : AGENT ORANGE LEARNS TO TAKE CARE OF ITSELF

The members of Agent Orange originally envisioned their first album as “a lead-in” to their new “This Is the Voice” LP, which is scheduled to arrive in record stores today.

But they never expected that the lead-in would stretch more than four years since the Fullerton-based trio’s debut album, “Living in Darkness,” was released in 1981.

What happened in the interim is a case study in the pitfalls facing young bands, even after they land that coveted first record deal.

“When we did ‘Living in Darkness,’ everything was moving very fast,” said bassist James, 23, who uses only his first name, as do guitarist-lead singer Mike, 23, and drummer Scott, 22. The three have been together since 1979.

In an interview earlier this week at the band’s rehearsal studio in Placentia, James, sitting on a worn sofa, said, “We were just kids . . . but we were playing with a lot of the big groups in the L.A. hard-core (punk) scene, like X, the Weirdos and the Germs. We were 16 years old, playing at clubs we couldn’t get into. And we were ignorant of the business.”

In the months after “Living in Darkness” was released, the band members maintain that it sold well but that they never received any royalties from Posh Boy Records, a local label specializing in Southern California punk and new music.

Subsequently Posh Boy also released “Bitchin’ Summer,” a four-song EP culled from “Living in Darkness.” In 1985, Posh Boy owner Robbie Fields sold the licenses from the label’s catalogue to Suite Beat Records for future marketing.

Last December, the group filed a lawsuit in Orange County Superior Court seeking damages against Posh Boy and its owner, Robbie Fields. In May, the band reached an out-of-court settlement with Fields in which they will be paid back royalties.

“Basically we spent our advance money on the new album to get the royalty payments from the last album,” said group manager Steve Levesque. “We took the initiative to strike back at something that was wrong. We felt it was important for us to do that.”

The aftermath of that first experience is that the group has taken control of virtually every aspect of its career with almost religious zeal. They signed with Enigma Records for the new album because they felt the El Segundo-based independent label was most receptive to their input.

In addition to writing and playing the 10 songs on “This Is the Voice,” the three musicians designed the album cover, selected the location for the cover photograph and approved the artwork. James even designed flyers and posters to advertise their performance at the Roxy on Wednesday to mark the record’s release. (The group will also play tonight with T.S.O.L. at Fender’s in Long Beach, and on July 14 will embark on a national tour.)

They also oversee all aspects of Agent Orange merchandising, including the usual T-shirts and the not-so-usual skateboards.

After the group scored the music for a home video on skateboarding, Vision Sports, a Newport Beach sporting goods manufacturer and retailer, marketed a skateboard emblazoned with the Agent Orange logo that has sold several thousand units, according to Vision Sports’ sales manager.

The Agent Orange skateboard, in fact, has kept the group’s financial head above water during the 18 months it’s been out, Levesque said. The group plans to bring out a new model later this year to tie in with the new album.

Another source of local pride for the band members is their association with Fullerton’s G&L; musical instruments, owned by electric guitar innovator Leo Fender, who has supplied Mike and James with customized guitars and other equipment. “It’s that same kind of hometown ethic we get at Enigma,” James said. “It’s not a major corporation. We can walk in and talk to the owner anytime we want.”

Despite the long gap between albums, during which a second EP, “When You Least Expect It,” was released in 1984, the group has made good on its intention to link the two records.

The new album’s first song, “Voices in the Night,” provides that bridge by acknowledging and then moving beyond the dark, brooding tone of the aptly titled “Living in Darkness”: “It seems to me that in the past the darkness was my friend/Those times have changed I’m now a stranger in a violent place . . . I feel all right.”

The new album also displays greater musical variety than its predecessor, from the slow, ominous “Bite the Hand That Feeds (Part I)” to the haunting surf rock “I Kill Spies” to the frenetic “Say It Isn’t True.”

Even though none of the new songs qualify as hard-core punk, the band’s roots in the Southern California punk scene and its name--taken in 1977 before the youthful musicians knew it referred to the jungle defoliant used in Vietnam--could present a stumbling block to more widespread commercial success.

“The new album will change a lot of attitudes once people hear it,” Mike said.

Added James: “Ignorance is no excuse for anything. If people don’t know what it’s about, they shouldn’t be saying yes or no to it.”

LIVE ACTION: Tickets for three Pacific Amphitheatre concerts go on sale Monday: Jimmy Buffett (Aug. 3), Amy Grant (Aug. 15) and Mr. Mister (Oct. 5). . . . Missing Persons will perform Monday and Tuesday at Bogart’s in Long Beach. . . . The BoDeans will play the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano on July 5. Nils Lofgren will be at the Coach House on July 9. . . . M.I.A. will perform at Safari Sam’s in Huntington Beach on July 10.