History Music / Descendents

Their sound was more melodic than many other punk bands of their generation (especially in the hardcore scene), and they sang about being losers, problems with girls, and other sensitive subjects, with a lot of nonsense and humor included. While nobody would mistake them for an emo band, they could be seen as a precursor for the genre, particularly its fusion with PopPunk during the 1990s and 2000s – sensitive and melodic, but with edgier music. They're not as [[{{Wangst}} wangsty]] though, and a lot more fun. In addition to girls and other problems, the band sang occasionally about food and coffee, and in particular, not doing drugs (except for caffeine, of which they were fond). They even had at least one entire song about farting ("Enjoy").

The Descendents are an American punk-rock band from Hermosa Beach, California. They started in 1977, released their first EP ''Fat'' in 1981, and their first album ''Milo Goes to College'', in 1982. They went through many lineup changes and there's even an entire separate band that has three of their members. They continue to tour today.

Their sound was more melodic than most punk bands of their generation (especially in the hardcore scene), and they sang about being losers, problems with girls, and other sensitive subjects, with a lot of nonsense and humor included. While nobody would mistake them for an emo band, they could be seen as a precursor for the genre, particularly its fusion with PopPunk during the 1990s and 2000s – sensitive and melodic, but with edgier music. They're not as [[{{Wangst}} wangsty]] though, and a lot more fun. In addition to girls and other problems, the band sang occasionally about food and coffee, and in particular, not doing drugs (except for caffeine, of which they were fond). They even had at least one entire song about farting ("Enjoy").

* PopPunk: Pretty much the [[TropeMaker Trope Makers]] for the genre as we know it today.

Their sound was more melodic than most punk bands of their generation, and they sang about being losers, problems with girls, and other sensitive subjects, with a lot of nonsense and humor included. While nobody would mistake them for an emo band, they could be seen as a precursor for the genre, particularly its fusion with PopPunk during the 1990s and 2000s – sensitive and melodic, but with edgier music. They're not as [[{{Wangst}} wangsty]] though, and a lot more fun. In addition to girls and other problems, the band sang occasionally about food and coffee, and in particular, not doing drugs (except for caffeine, of which they were fond). They even had at least one entire song about farting ("Enjoy").

Their sound was more melodic than most punk bands of their generation, and they sang about being losers, problems with girls, and other sensitive subjects, with a lot of nonsense and humor included. While nobody would mistake them for an emo band, they might be seen as a precursor for the genre, especially for it's years in the 2000s – sensitive and melodic, but with edgier music. They're not as [[{{Wangst}} wangsty]] though, and a lot more fun. In addition to girls and other problems, the band sang occasionally about food and coffee, and in particular, not doing drugs (except for caffeine, of which they were fond). They even had at least one entire song about farting ("Enjoy").

Three of the Descendents' members formed the band "All" in 1987. Currently, both bands exist as separate bands; however, they share three members and play each others' songs at concerts, so the distinction is less than complete.

* ''Ride the Wild/It’s A Hectic World'' (1980, single)

->You want whale sperm with that?\\
NO!
-->--"Der Wienerschnitzel"

!!I'm Not a Troper:

----

Their sound was more melodic than most punk bands of their generation, and they sang about being losers, problems with girls, and other sensitive subjects, with a lot of nonsense and humor included. While nobody would mistake them for an emo band, they might be seen as a precursor for the genre – sensitive and melodic, but with edgier music. They're not as [[{{Wangst}} wangsty]] though, and a lot more fun. In addition to girls and other problems, the band sang occasionally about food and coffee, and in particular, not doing drugs (except for caffeine, of which they were fond). They even had at least one entire song about farting ("Enjoy").

The Descendents are an American punk-rock band from Hermosa Beach, California. They started in 1978, released their first EP ''Fat'' in 1981, and their first album ''Milo Goes to College'', in 1982. They went through many lineup changes and there's even an entire separate band that has three of their members. They continue to tour today.

* ''Ride the Wild/It’s A Hectic World'' (1980, single)
* ''Fat EP'' (1981, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin EP]])

* ''Fat EP'' (1981, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin EP]])

* {{Irony}}: Despite playing in a very well known punk band, Tony Lombardo not only didn't like the punk scene (he even wrote "I'm Not A Punk" about it) but as mentioned below, "Suburban Home" was a genuine plea for stability.

* PepTalkSong: "Pep Talk"

** "Marriage" arguably counts. A lot of their songs (especially on ''Milo Goes to College'') add the suffix "-age" to a word, such as "Bikeage" or "Tonyage", with "Marriage" being the only real word that ends in "-age" on the album. On a similar note, there's "Coolidge" from ''All.''
* {{Rockumentary}}: ''Filmage.''

* EmoMusic: The UrExample, especially for it's more mainstream 'emo-pop' years. They definitely sang about stuff like their bad luck with girls and other teenage problems, but they generally sounded more fun.

* EmoMusic: The UrExample, especially for it's more mainstream years. They definitely sang about stuff like their bad luck with girls and other teenage problems, but they generally sounded more fun.

* {{Emo}} / PopPunk: The UrExample. They definitely sang about stuff like their bad luck with girls and other teenage problems, but they generally sounded more fun.

* VulgarHumor: Overuse of this got a rather icy reception for "Enjoy!", with the opening track and "Orgofart" both being particularly fart-obsessed tracks. The album still has its fans regardless.

* IconicLogo: A caricature of Milo Aukerman appears on the cover of most of their studio albums (the only exceptions being ''Enjoy!'' and ''All'').

* IWantSong: "Suburban Home" is a sarcastic one of these, opening with "I want to be stereotyped. I ''want'' to be classified."

* ClusterFBomb: Happens in a number of their songs on occassion.

* GriefSong: "One More Day" dealing with the then-recent death of Milo's father. Despite the two's poor relationship, Milo had a lot of pent up emotion he released in the song.
** "Feel This" deals with Bill Stevenson's mother's death.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Their debut single, "Ride the Wild" / "It's a Hectic World", had more in common with SurfRock and NewWaveMusic than HardcorePunk. Also, as already mentioned, Milo wasn't in the band yet - Frank Navetta sang the A-side and Tony Lombardo sang the B-side, these being the only times either would ever sing lead on a Descendents recording. Neither Frank nor Tony considered themselves singers in the first place, and a key reason the single was made was to serve as a calling card to give out to potential vocalists.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Their debut single, "Ride the Wild" / "It's a Hectic World", had more in common with SurfRock and NewWaveMusic than HardcorePunk. Also, as already mentioned, Milo wasn't in the band yet - Frank Navetta sang the A-side and Tony Lombardo sang the B-side, these being the only times either would ever sing lead on a Descendents recording. Neither Frank nor Tony considered themselves singers in the first place, and a key reason the single was made in the first place was to serve as a calling card to give out to potential vocalists.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Their debut single, "Ride the Wild" / "It's a Hectic World", had more in common with SurfRock and NewWaveMusic than HardcorePunk. Also, as already mentioned, Milo wasn't in the band yet - Frank Navetta sang the A-side and Tony Lombardo sang the B-side, these being the only times either would ever sing lead on a Descendents recording.

* ''Hallraker!'' (1989, live album)

* HiddenDepths: Think the title ''Milo Goes to College'' was chosen because it was catchy? Wellit turns out lead singer Milo Aukerman actually ''was'' going to college in order to be a biochemist. The band now tours and records around his work schedule.

Descendents are a punk-rock band from Hermosa Beach, California. They started in 1978, released their first EP ''Fat'', in 1980, and their first album ''Milo Goes to College'', in 1982. They went through many lineup changes and there's even an entire separate band that has three of their members. They continue to tour today.

The Descendents' original lineup was Frank Navetta on guitar, Tony Lombardo on bass, Bill Stevenson (presumably the Bill whose sperm is offered in "Der Wienerschnitzel", quoted at the top of the page) on drums, and Milo Aukerman on vocals. (Actually, Milo was not in the very first lineup, but he was added before the first album [which, to continue the digression, was actually an EP], and most fans would consider him one of the originals; some fans would even consider him the heart of the band.)

Members:

!!Former members:
-->Tony Lombardo, bass, 1979–85
-->Frank Navetta, guitar, 1977–83
-->Ray Cooper, vocals/guitar, 1982–86
-->Doug Carrion, bass, 1985-86

!!Current lineup:
-->Bill Stevenson, drums, 1977–present
-->Milo Aukerman, vocals, 1980–present
-->Karl Alvarez, bass, 1986–present
-->Steven Egerton, guitar, 1986–present

!!Main Discography:

!!'''''I'm Not a Troper''''':

* ClusterFBomb

* {{Emo}} / PopPunk: UrExample. They definitely sang about stuff like their bad luck with girls and other teenage problems, but they generally sounded more fun.

* LeadDrummer: As stated above on the members' list, Bill Stevenson is [[TheConstant the only consistent member]].
* LongRunnerLineup: While they were a bit of a RevolvingDoorBand early on, since '86, they've kept the lineup of Milo, Bill, Stephen, and Karl.

** "Tonyage" name drops LA punk bands Fear and the Urinals. It also mentions Germs singer Darby Crash, along with Crash's previous StageName, Bobby Pyn.

* VulgarHumor- Overuse of this got a rather icy reception for "Enjoy!", with the opening track and "Orgofart" both being particularly fart-obsessed tracks. The album still has it's fans regardless.

* ShoutOut: The outro to "Mass Nerder" is a reference to Music/TheGerms. The "We must read" bit is sung to the tune of their song "We Must Bleed", and "Somebody get me a book!" is a variation on Darby Crash's famous "Somebody get me a beer!"