The band gained the attention of local label Frontier Records, who signed them in January 1981. That March the Adolescents recorded their debut album, "Adolescents", also known as "The Blue Album" due to its simple blue cover with the band's name in red typeface. Engineered and mixed by Thom Wilson and produced by Middle Class bassist Mike Patton, it was recorded, mixed, and mastered in only four days and featured most of the band's oeuvre at the time, including songs from their demos and Royer and Rikk Agnew's Detours songs. Released the following month, it was one of the first hardcore punk records to be widely distributed throughout the United States, and became one of the best-selling California hardcore albums behind the Dead Kennedys' "Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables" (1980), selling over 10,000 copies.