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Descendents Information
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'The Descendents' are a punk rock band from Lomita, California, a suburb of Los Angeles. They are credited as one of the most influential punk bands ever by many critics, and are known for being the first band in the hardcore scene to sing about simpler topics than politics.
History
Early/peak years
The Descendents were formed in 1978 by guitarist Frank Navetta, bassist Tony Lombardo and drummer Bill Stevenson. Their first and only release with this lineup was "Ride the Wild"/"It's a Hectic World", a double A-side of melodic surf-pop.
In 1980 they enlisted Stevenson's old schoolfriend Milo Aukerman as a singer, and reappeared as a punk band, becoming a major player in the hardcore scene developing in Los Angeles at the time. Their first release with Aukerman, 1981's Fat EP, was a furious six-minute barrage of teen angst and goofball humour, featuring such songs as "My Dad Sucks" and the sixteen-second "I Like Food".
Their debut album the following year, Milo Goes to College, introduced an element of melody and sensitivity that set them apart from most other hardcore bands. They sung about being (and wanting to be) rejected ("I'm Not A Loser", "I Wanna Be A Bear", "Parents"), girls ("Hope", "Myage", "Marriage", "Kabuki Girl"), fishing ("Catalina"), and other subjects not normally discussed by their peers. Songwriting was shared among the band members, and Stevenson's songs in particular were to greatly influence the melodic punk-pop bands of the 90s.
First hiatus
Milo Aukerman really was off to college, to embark on an education that would take him as far as a doctorate in biochemistry, while Bill Stevenson became for a while the drummer with fellow hardcore punks Black Flag. The band did not record again until 1985 with the album I Don't Want to Grow Up. This was much more sensitive than Milo..., despite silly songs such as the title-track and "Pervert".
The band's lineup changed during the recording of I Don't Want to Grow Up. Navetta left the band during the recording to become a fisherman in Oregon, and Lombardo left after the recording for unknown reasons. Ray Cooper replaced Navetta on guitar and Doug Carrion (formely of ANTI) replaced Lombardo on bass. Fans were overall somewhat disappointed with the change, but the album was still well received.
Reformation
Enjoy!, their next album (released in 1986) was not well received by critics, but fans liked it. It was a mix of silly, nearly pointless songs ("Enjoy", "Kids", "Orgofart", the first and last involving band members farting into microphones), and emotional, mature songs such as "Get The Time" and a cover of "Wendy" by the Beach Boys. The band even experimented with thrash metal on "Hόrtin Crue".
After the Enjoy! tour, Ray Cooper left for unknown reasons and Doug Carrion got a job working in the emerging software scene, and left. Stevenson invited friends Stephen Egerton and Karl Alvarez from Salt Lake City to replace them, and the now permanent lineup of the Descendents was in place.
All
The group released All in (1987), which, despite "Van", "ALL-O-Gistics" and the one-second "ALL", was the Descendents most mature 80s album, and featured emotional songs such as "Coolidge", "Cameage" and "Clean Sheets". This would be the band's final album before their nine-year hiatus. On the reunion tour, the band that five years before had claimed that they "couldn't sell out a telephone booth" were selling out nearly every show.
With the release of ALL, the Descendents introduced to the world the driving concept behind their career's work, from which the album derives its title. The philosophy of ALL is jokingly defined in the spoken-word "ALL-O-Gistics" and is the subject of the songs "ALL" and "No, ALL!" In "ALL," the band expressed their passion for ALL, simply shouting the word once in unison. "No, ALL!" on the other hand is two seconds longer and speaks to the simple complexities of the philosophy. One voice opens the song asking "All?" to which several others return in emphatically, "NO ALL!" Although the Descendents opted not to introduce "ALL" and "No, ALL!" until the release of the album ALL, these gems were actually written at the time of the philosophy's conception around 1980, in the midst of the song-writing fury that produced a number of the tunes from the "Fat" EP, including "I Like Food." Stevenson co-wrote these songs with best friend/fishing buddy/Descendents "Fifth Member," Pat McQuiston. The two came up with the concept while working a late night on the water, and fishing (Fat's "Mr. Bass") and coffee (Enjoy's "Kids" and Everything Sucks's "Coffee Mug") remained themes for Descendents songs and spiritual aids in the quest for ALL, which they define quite conventionally as "the total extent." The idea of ALL as a concept beyond this conventional definition is one of endless self improvement. "The total extent" is an all(no pun intended)-encompassing greatness, the pursuit of which is endless and impossible, but which is also the source of all real happiness. Thus, "No, ALL!," speaks to the fruits of this "endless quest," amd "happiness is the pursuit of ALL" is the viable credo which is often lost in the midst of the Descendents' slightly more conventional dual-motif of off-beat humor and girls.
Second hiatus
Milo left after the back-to-back "ALL" and "FinALL" tours in 1987 and the remaining Descendents reformed with singer Dave Smalley (later replaced by Scott Reynolds, who was followed by Chad Price) and reformed under the name All, and continued the legacy until 1996, when they reformed again with Milo Aukerman, now a full-time research biochemist, to record and tour in support of the album Everything Sucks, a bit of a return to their early-80s punk style (with Frank Navetta and Tony Lombardo making appearances on "Dog House" and "Eunich Boy"). A reunion of sorts occurred at All's quasi-annual Stockage festival in Fort Collins, Colorado, in the spring of 2002. Frank Navetta joined Tony Lombardo and Bill Stevenson to play songs from when they were a trio, before Aukerman joined the group.
Recent history
In 2004 the band released the 'Merican EP and their newest full length Cool to Be You, which is among their more emotional releases to date. Containing songs not just about the regular Decendents lyrical themes, but also polititcal commentary ("'Merican") and a more mature view on relationships, ("Talking, Anchor Grill") and break-ups ("She Don't Care").
The future of the Descendents is uncertain. Much like Pavement, the Descendents members are now scattered all across the country as opposed to all being high school students in Southern California like they were when they started. Aukerman apparently is currently living in Newark, Delaware, far away from his band mates Stevenson and Alvarez, who live in Ft. Collins, Colorado, and Egerton who lives with his family in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Stevenson currently runs The Blasting Room recording studio in Ft. Collins while Egerton hones his recording chops at Armstrong Recording Studio in Tulsa. 'Merican's "I Quit" leaves only question marks as to whether Milo will ever return again to record or tour with the Descendents. Meanwhile, All remains dormant with two albums left on the back burners as works in progress. Bill Stevenson is drumming for his new band, Only Crime as well as an outing with bassist Alvarez in Evan Dando's Lemonheads.
Discography
* Ride the Wild/It's a Hectic World single (1979)
* Fat (EP) (1981)
* Milo Goes to College (1982)
* I Don't Want to Grow Up (1985)
* Bonus Fat (combination of Fat with the band's debut single) (1985)
* Enjoy! (1986)
* All (1987)
* Liveage (live) (1987)
* Two Things at Once (combination of Bonus Fat with Milo Goes to College) (1988)
* Hallraker (live) (1989)
* Somery (compilation) (1991)
* Everything Sucks (1996)
* 'Merican EP (2004)
* Cool To Be You (2004)
Band members
Current members
*Milo Aukerman Lead vocals (1981 present)
*Stephen Egerton Guitar (1987 present)
*Karl Alverez Bass (1987 present)
*Bill Stevenson Drums (1979 present)
Past members
*An unknown female singer (was, according to Aukerman, a lackluster lead singer the Descendents had for a few weeks before he joined) (1980)
*Frank Navetta Guitar (1979 1985, rejoined as part time member in 1996 only)
*Tony Lombardo Bass (1979 1985, rejoined as part time member in 1996 only)
*Ray Cooper Guitar (1985 1987)
*Doug Carrion Bass (1985 1987)
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