If It's Too Loud...

Photo via Facebook The upcoming album from California punk legends Descendents has been in the works since the band first started. The songs were first written back in 1977 to 1980, but most weren't recorded. They started working on the album in 2002, and because of that it includes guitar work from Frank Navetta, who passed away in 2008. Last year Bill Stevenson sent the recordings to Milo Aukerman who recorded vocals at his home. The first song is "Baby Donchu Know." It's less than a minute, just to prove it's a classic punk song. It has all the drive and aggression of early Descendents, but with much better musicianship. Plus, the band can make things sound much more smooth now. It's exactly what it sounds like: original pop/skater/mall punk but just done with better tools and craft now. In a world where classic punk bands' new albums are usually a disappointment, this new one from the Descendents will be an absolute delight for fans. You can listen to ...

I may be wrong, but I'm going to assume the latest single from the Descendents might be about Trump. The forty two second song is about an "asshole Twitter troll" who needs to "go home" and has "small hands." It's a fast, angry punk song that would have felt right at home with their output in the 80's. Descendents have always been adept at making the most out of incredibly short songs, and "That's the Breaks" is a perfect example of that. In a time when many of their contemporaries (and in many cases even bands that came well after them) have started slowing down and getting more conservative, it's refreshing to see a band double down like the Descendents are. You can watch the lyric video for "That's the Breaks" below. The song is currently available via Epitaph Records here . For more on Descendents, check out their website .

Remember earlier this month when we brought you RebUke , a three song EP of anti-Trump protest songs from Milo Aukerman recorded on ukulele because he wanted to get those songs out faster than he could with the Descendents? Well... we now have two of those three songs recorded with the band! Suffrage is a new two song single from the Descendents that includes the two songs "On You" and "Hindsight 2020." This time the anger in Milo's lyrics and vocals is matched by the music. The Descendents have never truly been an overtly political band, but on Suffrage they go all out with politics. There's no questioning what they mean with lyrics like "#MAGA MAGA / What a fucking joke." You can watch the lyric video for "On You" below. Suffrage is available now via Epitaph Records here . For more on the Descendents, check out their website/Tumblr .

Here's a sentence I never ever thought I'd write: Milo Aukerman of the Descendents has released an anti-Trump EP that recorded on the ukulele. These three songs were originally recorded for his band, but he wanted to get them released before the election, so he cranked out these three songs solo. I can guarantee that you've never heard anything this angry on a ukulele before, or probably ever will. It has the full range of Aukerman's anger that we've ever heard before. In fact, I don't think we've ever heard him this angry before. Sure, there are some other instruments, like some electric guitar and cowbell, but it's mostly just Aukerman and a ukulele. And it's simply great. Milo Aukerman says of the songs on 45...Not a LP:  “I’ve spent most of my punk rock life avoiding the temptation to write political songs; it always seemed like politics is the obvious go-to subject of punk and thus not of interest to me.  Unfortunately, after the 2016 U.S. Presi...

I first discovered the Descendents way back in 1997. I was in college, and their video for "I'm the One" was on 120 Minutes . I saw them in Northampton, MA at that year's Warped Tour, completely oblivious to the fact that I was seeing legends, and that I'd go twenty one years without seeing them again. Since Milo returned to the band full time in 2016, I couldn't get in when they played their show at the Sinclair for Converse, the show at Royale sold out too fast, and their Providence show just didn't work out. When I saw they were playing Worcester, the city in MA closest to my home that has shows, I knew I had to go. Saturday night at the Palladium in Worcester brought out a diverse crowd. I don't believe there were original fans from the 80's, but lots of people that discovered them in the 90's were there. Plus, there were a lot of kids that probably consider Blink 182 to be old school punk. Being over forty, I situated myself at the bac...

For the first time in 12 years, we have a new song from the innovators of pop punk, the Descendents. It's not a bad song by any means, and it's miles ahead of the new material their contemporaries churn out every couple years, but I'm not completely sold on it. "Victim of Me" is far more thrashy than I would have expected, especially given their (relatively) laid back sound on 2004's Cool to Be You.  Most of the songs on that album were calmer and dealt with settling into adulthood and middle age. "Victim of Me" is far louder and faster, but what throws me off a bit is how melodic the chorus ends up being. The two aspects don't mesh as well as I'd like them. That being said, there's no way I'm not thrilled for a new Descendents album. The new Descendents album, Hypercaffium Spazzinate , will be out on July 29 on Epitaph Records. You can hear "Victim of Me" below. For more info on the Descendents, and to check out some pr...