Descendents Drop New Song And Make Us All Feel Old

Pop-punk pioneers Descendents have dropped a new track and have announced a new record.

Yup, you read that right. The kids who wrote 'Milo Goes To College' over twenty years ago are putting out new tunes in the form of an album called ‘Hypercaffium Spazzinate’, out July 29th through Epitaph. I have no clue what that means but what I do know is that the song they've released already, 'Victim Of Me' is a total barnburner. Age hath not withered Milo Aukerman and his rag-tag group of buddies as 'Victim Of Me' sounds exactly like it was plucked from the B-Sides of 'Milo Goes To College'. Clocking in at just over a minute and a half, the new song stays true to the fast and heavy yet melodic sound the band became famous for. The only difference is that this doesn't sound like it was recorded on a half-baked potato.

As it's 2016, the guitars sound like actual guitars and not malfunctioning air-conditioners. The bass now actually cuts into the mix which is a blessing because Karl Alvarez's bass lines are absolutely killer, serving as both low-end filler and counter melodies to the guitars and vocals. And the drums now have weight and presence to them which give the song and even edgier punk feel. Aukerman's vocals have actually improved. No longer does he sound like he was dying inside the vocal booth after puffing thirty packs of durries for lunch.

Descendents actually announced  ‘Hypercaffium Spazzinate’ a while ago at a hometown show in April, where they played six new songs which included 'Victim of Me'. But it's only very recently that they've begun promoting it through social media and the interwebs.

When I saw that the band were dropping new tunes, I got crazy excited. These were dudes who were as punk as it got. They didn't succumb to trends or fads or gimmicks like mohawks and leather jackets with fully-sick spikes on them like other punk bands - they were just punk. They lived the ideology by playing music they wanted  to play, saying the things they wanted to say and being themselves. Fuck, Aukerman is a biochemist who studies plants for a living and he doesn't care one iota what you think about that. He just does it because he wants to. That's what I always admired about them.

But what the hell do I know about punk? My favourite record by these guys is of course 'Milo Goes To College' (if you couldn't tell by now), easily they're most popular release to date. So that probably just makes me a fucking poser. Anyway, I'm gonna shut up and let you listen to this new banger by the boys from Manhattan Beach.