Prior to choosing the name "The Faction," an early lineup of the band, consisting of Steve Caballero, Gavin O'Brien, Craig Bosch, and Russ Wright, briefly played as "The Tolerants.
After recording a single demo of "Spineless Majority" with this line up, Adam switched to guitar and was replaced by drummer Keith Rendon.
The band continued to perform during skate sessions at Cab's house and eventually landed their first gig opening for Social Distortion at San Jose City College, December 3, 1982.
Prior to releasing anything official, the band recorded themselves to cassette tape and made copies to give to friends and fans at gigs.
The earliest practice tapes are the only recordings of the first line up to bear The Faction band name, Steve, Gavin, Russ, Adam and Keith.
Of those tapes, several tracks appeared on the compilation cassette-only release Growing Pains, which also featured Los Olvidados, Executioner, Ribzy, The Bruces, The Unaware, Grim Reality and Whipping Boy.
[3][4] This was a noble release and showed that, while fairly young, the band had chops and a solid knowledge of tempo and time changes associated with punk.
This enthusiastic response propelled the band and set the wheels in motion for a full-length release as well as plans for a nationwide US tour.
The band's musicianship was beginning to gel while O'Brien's vocals tackle subjects from 1980s politics "Running Amok", to paranoia "Being Watched", to anti-hippie rhetoric and consumerism in "Why Save The Whales?"
As the band's manager, producer, and head of IM Records, Adam went to work booking a national tour in support of No Hidden Messages during 1984.
During a trip to Japan, where he was competing in a contest, Caballero spent much of his flight time listening to The Adolescents and felt inspired by their use of a two-guitar style.
Upon his return, Cab wasted no time switching to rhythm guitar and handing bass duties to former Los Olvidados bassist Ray Stevens.
Corpse In Disguise takes on a darker feel than the first two offerings both in lyrical content and musical direction, the dark and brooding "100 Years War" being an instant standout.
During September 1984, just after the sessions for Corpse In Disguise finished, the band's presence was requested in Lincoln, Nebraska for Thrasher Magazine's 'Midwest Melee' skateboarding contest.
In addition to Corpse In Disguise and Dark Room the period between 1984 and 1985 saw the band contribute tracks that were added to various skate compilations.
Video footage of the July 7, 1985, CBGB gig shows Cab sporting a "metal up your ass" shirt from Metallica's Ride The Lightning tour.
Throughout their career, The Faction shared the stage with the likes of Social Distortion, Void, Big Boys, JFA, Executioner, Corrosion of Conformity, The Melvins, Scream, Agent Orange, Aggression, Suicidal Tendencies, Rich Kids On LSD, Code Of Honor, Wasted Youth, Hüsker Dü, Portrait Of Poverty, Fluf, Drunk Injuns, Los Olvidados, Free Beer, U.S.
The band played their final show on October 22, 1985, at the Keystone in Palo Alto, California, supporting Hüsker Dü.
A few days later at a Halloween party the band formally broke up citing personality conflicts and clashes over songwriting, and musical direction.
The in your face "I Decide For Me" and a cover of "California Dreamin'" with alternate lyrics aimed at disillusionment that only a punk rock band could dial in.
Released in 1996, Collection: 1982-1985 gathers most of the band's recorded material including live songs from the Tool & Die in San Francisco, radio station KFJC, and CBGB.
Due to the missing master tapes for Epitaph, the songs from that album had to be lifted from a vinyl copy in order to be included.
The Faction Collection 2: Uncollectable is an assortment of various studio, demo, and live tracks including the band's entire set from the '85 CBGB gig.
During March 2001, Los Olvidados reunited and played a couple of shows to a packed house at Bottom of the Hill in San Francisco.
Spurred on by this show and strong reviews from the local media, the band decided to take a shot at making another album and playing more gigs.
Shows were also played in Seattle, Washington, Vancouver, British Columbia, and their first ever gigs outside of North America in Scotland and Germany.
The Faction were celebrating their inclusion in EMP's permanent section dedicated to the genre they helped pioneer, skate rock.
In 2004, the Faction were asked to perform at the San Jose Punk Rock Reunion shows, which spanned two nights at the Blank Club.
The band's 6-year reunion that began in 2014 ended with their last show ever on February 22, 2020, in their home town San Jose, California.
Instead, in October 2020 they re-recorded 12 of their most popular songs with engineer Dave Klein (former Agent Orange drummer) in Los Angeles for an expected new album Greatest Grinds.