Rich Kids on LSD (RKL) is a Californian hardcore punk band[1] formed in 1982 in Montecito, California, a suburb of Santa Barbara.

The first party we played we didn't have a name for the band, so we put that one on the flier and it just stuck.”[3][5] The beanie boy logo was born one night while Bomer and Jason were being tattooed.

Dan Sites was sitting alongside drawing a flyer for a show supporting Suicidal Tendencies in Oxnard and drew a beanie guy jumping from a building.

[8] All the artwork for the EP was done by Dan Sites marking the first official appearance of the popular "beanie boy" character, which would remain an icon for RKL for their entire career.

[16] About their sound, Bomer said: "People say that we have a metal influence, but really, all our licks are pretty much rhythm and blues based, but it's super fast!

Jason Sears was flown into Barcelona to re-join RKL and to attempt to complete the tour playing their pre-Reactivate songs.

[28] For perhaps the first time in their history, RKL finally had a large amount of support from an experienced and highly successful independent label, Epitaph Records.

[29] The band had the song "We're Back We're Pissed" appear on Epitaph's first of a long running compilation series called Punk-O-Rama.

Original members Jason Sears and Chris Rest reunited, along with three mutual friends (including Derrick Plourde on drums) to fill out the remaining positions.

"[32] The new songs were eventually included as bonus tracks on the re-issued Greatest Hits - Live In West Berlin 1988 released in 2011 on Destiny Records.

An unreleased track from more recent demo recordings entitled "Twisting and Turning" was included on a 2 CD compilation album Sick Slabs of Sonic Sound from the Slaboratory released December 17, 2013.

[33] In January 2024, RKL announced a return with four of the members from the Riches to Rags (Chris Rest, Barry Ward, Joe Raposo, Dave Raun) recording and touring with Tony Foresta from Municipal Waste on vocals.

On March 30, 2005, Derrick Plourde, former drummer of RKL, who also played in Lagwagon, Mad Caddies, Bad Astronaut, Jaws, and The Ataris, committed suicide.

Bad Astronaut also paid tribute to Plourde, as well as Manzullo and Sears, with the song Stillwater, California, off of their album Twelve Small Steps, One Giant Disappointment.

On December 12, 2005, original member Richard Anthony Manzullo (aka "Bomer") died due to heart failure at his home in Summerland, California.

[36][37] On January 31, 2006, Jason Sears died due to complications while undergoing a detox treatment involving ibogaine in Tijuana, Mexico.

[39] In 1996 Bomer Manzullo and Chris Rest formed a band called The Other with future Mad Caddies drummer Boz Rivera.

Barry 'D'live' Ward released a solo album in 1990 on RRRecords titled Homely All American Songs & Stories For Mutant Space Dweebs From Planet Hell.

Along with being a musician, he has also directed music videos for bands, including NOFX, Terrorgruppe, and Don Cikuta and works with Grumblefish Movies.

[42] He also has a side project contributing lead vocals and drums in a band called District of Columbias which released an EP on Japanese label Inyaface Records in 2009 entitled We Barely Just Got Here.

Additionally, he joined No Use For A Name in 2009 replacing Dave Nassie and remained a member until their final show following the death of lead singer Tony Sly in 2012.

As of 2012[update], Raposo also works for Zynga as the quality assurance lead for their casual social city-building simulation game CityVille.

[50][51][52][53] Lynn Strait was a long-time friend of the band and his name can be viewed in the liner notes "Special Thanks" section of RKL's 1987 album Rock N Roll Nightmare.

It was then repackaged and re-released as a self-titled effort; simply Jason Sears & Mercury Legion on Malt Soda Recordings.

"[60] In The New York Times: "TimesTalks" television interview discussing musicianship in punk rock, Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong mentioned RKL's Bomer Manzullo as an example of the high level of talent in punk rock, calling Bomer an "insane drummer",[61] while in an interview with Communities Digital News, NOFX's Erik Sandin said: "Bomber was just out of control, he was so fucking good.

"[citation needed] RKL, known for their live shows, once had a Goleta, California crowd in such a fervor that a club owner deployed tear gas in an attempt to stop the large mosh pit.

"[63] A Rich Kids on LSD tribute album was released on Malt Soda Recordings entitled For Those About To Trip which contains 23 covers of classic RKL tracks by various artists.

[66] On the WTF with Marc Maron he said Jason Sears was his best friend[67] and has also stated "Rich Kids on LSD was the band that I helped start.

"Another thing that really opened our minds was seeing the RKL show, Rich Kids on LSD," said Ratos de Porão vocalist João Gordo.

[75] There were rumors of an "RKLAOKE" show sometime in the Summer of 2006 as a benefit concert to raise money for Sears' children Anthony, Sierra, and Cisco.