The Adicts originated as Afterbirth & The Pinz in late 1975. They soon changed their name to The Adicts and became known for their distinctive Clockwork Orange droog image, which, along with their urgent, uptempo music and light-hearted lyrics, helped set them apart from other punk bands. In the 1980s, they temporarily changed their name to 'Fun Adicts' and 'ADX', mainly to coincide with children's TV appearances. They are to date the longest touring punk band with an original line-up.

Their music has catchy melodies and lyrics, and often features extra instruments and sound clips, such as carousel music in "How Sad", violin played by Derick Cook in "Joker in the Pack", and gongs and keyboard percussion by Anthony Boyd in "Chinese Takeaway".

The musicians wear all white, with black boots and black bowler hats. The singer, Keith "Monkey" Warren, wore joker make-up, and his clothes were usually wild, patterned suits (such as checkerboard or polkadot), flared trousers and colorful dress shirts. He also tended to wear a bowler hat and gloves. Along with the look come stage shows involving items such as streamers, confetti, playing cards, joker hats, toy instruments and glitter.