Did the Descendents change punk music forever?

By not being afraid to be themselves and do what they wanted to do, The Descendents became spokespeople for so many kids who felt left-out. This is the story of The Descendents, how they created a new genre, and changed punk music forever.
Learn more about The Minutemen: • How the Minutemen chan...
Learn more about Bad Brains: • How Bad Brains created...
#descendents #punk #musichistory

[@johnnyc.3261]

Milo Goes to College was and still is one of my favorite albums of all time

[@TheCaptainsCog]

Buzzcocks "singles going steady" is the first pop punk album. Milo and boys just picked up where they left off and stepped it up a notch.

[@b.w.22]

Honestly, even the Clash were pretty harmonious in that pop sort of way. The descendents’ had a particularly west-coast American flavor to their “pop” that I think could be argued as having a greater impact on later bands. JMO, of course.

[@AgainZa333]

Fun fact - I grew up on Wu-Tang & gangsta rap BUT bald Matt Pinfield mentioned this band in a random snippet on MTV when I was about 14 years old. I don't know why, but the name of the band enticed me so much that I looked them up at "The Wall" (if anyone remembers this music store!?) and bought "Everything Sucks". I consider it my first "rock" cd. I met my first girlfriend at age 15 who turned me on to CRASS and it was all over after that..... punk fan for life.

[@gypsydildopunks7083]

I was in a real shite punk band that played with I believe was Joy killer and Bill was the drummer. He hung out with us, what a great human being. Nicest Legend I've ever met.

[@soundofhistory_]

That’s awesome! He seems great

[@craigpatrick1]

He lives here in Fort Collins where his studio The Blasting Room is, I used to see him at shows!

[@JaymeSplendid]

I don't think they changed punk, they just added a new genre within punk that, at the time, was already breaking off into other types of sub-genres under the "punk" umbrella.

[@b.w.22]

I guess I see what you’re saying, but it also seems to me that if you’ve pioneered, or helped to pioneer, a new genre of something, you’ve changed that thing. Maybe not always, but if that “subgenre” becomes as big a part as “pop punk” did, then it would be even more true. I think if the average person (and this isn’t to say they’re right) in 1998 heard the descendents and something like black flag’s damaged, they’d identify the descendants as punk and maybe wouldn’t know what to think about black flag.

[@buzzbomb67]

I saw the Descendents one time, in 97 or 98, I think, at Pomona, with Less Than Jake, Guttermouth and maybe a couple others. Some jerkoff robbed the box office, and the gig was stopped just about 5mins after the Descendents took the stage. Their sound got cut, but In typical fashion, they played on for about a dozen rapidfire songs, attempting to figure out what happened to the sound, before realizing the police had shown up and they were being cut off. Cops had the place surrounded, and the punks were borderline ready to do some stomping, but fortunately, as far as I know, nothing happened. We managed to leave safely, without consternation. Great show, though!

[@StickSlayersInc]

I probably have more stories about the descendents than I do with any other band from seeing black flag show up during their encore one time to meeting milo at a bad religion show its crazy how much in just the last few years how important this band has become to me since they reformed and I was able to see them perform.

[@jenniferlombardi5895]

i grew up in the south bay I love the descendents still listen to this day

[@johnchedsey1306]

So I was living in Fort Collins, CO, when the Descendents played their first reunion show in 1996. I had already met Stephen because he and his now wife often came into the restaurant where I worked (two of the nicest people alive, incidentally). That show was at a tiny club called Nightingales that could hold maybe 300 people. Well over a 1000 people showed up and it was the most packed, claustrophobic show of my life. But also insane. And amazing. One of the opening bands was an act that featured Abe Brennan (formerly of My Name) and a very young bassist named Jeff Matz...now in High on Fire. I still can't believe I was there for that show and close to the front. They were very surprised by the turnout. They had a lyric that said "we can't sell out a telephone booth" so they didn't quite realize just how much their fame and legend had grown in the 1991-96 time period. They weren't immensely popular in the 80s (like most punk bands), but everyone who saw them was influenced by them, and then started their own bands. For a group of guys who slept under desks in a strip mall office complex during their early years as ALL, they deserve all the attention and love they've gotten. *Speaking of ALL, the only thing missed in that was Scott Reynolds first replaced Dave Smalley, and then Chad replaced Scott. Oh, and Dave is sadly fighting cancer so send him good thoughts. Great video. Descendents are great people who made great music.

[@soundofhistory_]

Great story - thanks for that!

[@RockLibertyWarrior]

Green Day, The Offspring, Rancid etc. owe the Descendents props.

[@daft73games]

Ah the Descendents. I have listened to them on and off since HS :late 80's -early 90's Not much different than the bands comings an goings. 🙂 Great job and thanks.

[@bobhopeless4106]

Thanks! This video is a great introduction to a [legendary] band I've heard about for most of my life, but never personally listened to. Have to do that sometime... 😶

[@soundofhistory_]

Thanks for watching! Definitely try a couple albums - they are worth the listen

[@bobhopeless4106]

@@soundofhistory_ Most welcome, and thank you likewise. :) Hey, mind if I ask you a question since I have you here? Why doesn't anyone do video-essays on Blonde Redhead? They're criminally underrated, imo. What do you think about them? (I'm assuming you've heard of them, of course?)

[@EricGranata]

Wholesome.

[@keltonking4457]

had no idea the lore was this deep

[@peterdaigle4772]

I wasn't aware they're still doing shows. I'd definitely go see them. I've never owned any of their albums but they were always there in the background with their recognizable sound. Let's just i was never a devoted fan but they occupy several songs on my gym playlist

[@dkdrums5825]

Scott Reynolds was ALL second singer

[@jamiemcparland]

Great job on this! The only thing I wish you would have maybe touched on more is how important Tony Lombardo was to the band. Milo Goes to College is BY FAR their best album. Tony wrote, or had co writing credit on SEVEN of the 14 songs. That’s HALF the album! Some of the other records have a good song here or there.. but nothing like Milo Goes to College.

[@HSR107]

Someone turned me on to Liveage back in '89 or '90. Loved it. Never went any deeper mostly because the studio recordings didn't have the same energy as the live one.

[@SLUGGER_CITY]

Liveage is the greatest live album of all time, and my all-time favorite DESCENDENTS album. What a great group of dudes!!

[@HSR107]

@@SLUGGER_CITY I don't know about Liveage! being the greatest of all time but hyperbole is literally the greatest thing ever (badum tiss) But, yeah, Liveage is awesome. It's a "greatest hits" album but with a lot more energy than the older records. And I did misspeak. Milo Goes to College is another one I had and that's in the same tier of punk records as Dead Kennedy's Plastic Surgery Disasters.

[@gilramirez1373]

Nicely done 👍✅

[@soundofhistory_]

Thanks!

[@wonkleswonkler1397]

Great video! I really like the direction of the channel and keep up the good work!

[@soundofhistory_]

Thank you!

[@mghc7]

I’m watching this and I look down and realize I’m wearin the descendents shorts..iconic and legendary band

[@rockandrollstevesteve]

I love this band so much.

[@shruggzdastr8-facedclown]

Q&A @ this channel's host: This is my first video of yours that I both encountered and watched. Thanks for doing this video on The Descendents! I see that you've already got one on one of my personal top-fav 1st gen west coast punk bands, Minutemen (still bummed by D. Boon's death -- even after almost 40 years since ithappened) -- plan to watch it next. If you haven't already made one on The Adolescents, please add that to your hopper of future videos to make

[@soundofhistory_]

I'll add them to the list - thanks for checking out the video!

[@shruggzdastr8-facedclown]

@soundofhistory_ : Thanks for the almost instant reply -- wasn't expecting that quick of a turnaround, or any, for that matter! Another 1st-gen Cali punk* band I'd humbly like to request that you add to that future video hopper is Flipper (*well, their first iteration while original vocalist, Will Shatter, was still alive was more of a true hard-core/noise-punk band)

[@soundofhistory_]

Haha I’m actually in between sets at a concert so nothing else to do but be on my phone! I’ll add em to the list, I’ve actually never heard of them

[@shruggzdastr8-facedclown]

​@soundofhistory_ : Well, a lot of people outside of the '80s Bay Area punk scene didn't know about them, but they did get a little bit of notice via Kurt Cobain when he appeared in publicity photos in the early '90s wearing a homemade Flipper t-shirt, which he made with magic marker on a plain white tee. In fact, Kurt was my gateway into learning about a lot of other artists and bands that I otherwise very likely never would've known anything about (i.e.: Daniel Johnston; The Wipers; The Vaselines; The Raincoats; [The] Meat Puppets; et. al.)

[@willieluncheonette5843]

@@shruggzdastr8-facedclown When Flipper played their set here in NYC with Bad Brains and Gang Green., that was the signal to head to the bar....lol no kidding

[@robertshaw7523]

I went to high school with most of them. They were a year ahead of me. The same high school was where parts of Rock and Roll High School were filmed.

[@XpappaedgeX]

Everything Sucks with Chad singing is so damn solid!!!!

[@skippysimon]

just a personal opinion but I believe gg allin and the jabbers started pop punk...

[@B0RN2DIEinaGutt3R]

🫡🤫👍🏼

[@Steve_643]

I think they’re really the pioneers of the pop punk sound of the late 90’s early 2000’s.

[@robertshaw7523]

The Last were a great band - my local heroes.

[@soundofhistory_]

I had never heard of them before making this video, but I really loved what I listened to

[@viviennekomatsu]

Pls do history of oi/street punk and d-beat/crust punk now 🙏🏼

[@KINGMONKEY1989]

Is it just me or does the name "American Martyrs sound great as a band or album name ?

[@Rand_al_Thor372]

The plus/minus symbol means "more or less" maybe Morales was a family name

[@jasoncecala757]

I think Hypercaffium Spazzinate is way underrated! I think it might be their best work to date. If you have not heard this record, you need to.

[@DanPantzig]

The short answer to the title of this video - Yes. A lot.

[@seananton6266]

You should do one on Face to Face.

[@schmalman]

this story fills in some Tony Lombardo/Ray Cooper timeline. so in 1992ish i started playing drums with a singer/guitarist/songwriter named Aimee Lay who is still active and plays shows around la and is amazing. she knew Tony Lombardo somehow and got him to come out and in pretty short order he joined the band. i knew of the descendents but was not a huge fan myself so i didn't think all that much of it. We played our first show at Tony's house calling ourselves the Direction. Dos and Frida Rentes band played that night too to support Tony which was very cool. the direction fell apart but tony and i kept going. at some point Tony called Ray Cooper and asked him to come down and jam with us, which he did, surprisingly, because i don't think he had been in a band since descendents. Ray and i hit it off right away and whether it was because of that or some other reason he decided to join the band. we then found Joel Bratton who answered an ad in the recycler to be our lead singer. he had been in Thelonius Monster, Rhino 39 and was currently in a hardcore band called Long Beach Allday. We couldn't agree on a name, so we picked the one we all hated: Spiffy. We started playing some shows around town, and we were okay. Bill Stevenson was in town one day and came to one of our sessions. we were decent enough and he offered to record a demo for us at the blasting room for free. we just needed to get to Colorado and pay for the digital audio tape that he would use to record us (we even stayed at his place when we went up there). we were not nearly polished enough to record, but they had such a busy schedule that our only window in the next year was in about a month from that time. so we picked 6 songs and flew out there. we recorded all six tracks in one weekend. that was in early 96. they were intended to be demo tracks, but we knew some guys who had small record labels and they were champing at the bit to release the sessions as 45s so we released 5 songs on 2 singles. we didn't like the way the 6th song came out so we never released it. it was during this time also that Tony was "sneaking away" to work on Everything Sucks. which he just could have told us, but he thought we would be pissed or something. so on the strength of those singles and our record labels we started playing a lot more gigs. then one of our labels wanted us to do a West Coast tour all the way from San Diego to Seattle. Ray and I didn't want to do it. Shortly thereafter Ray moved to Chicago to pursue his other career: video game animation. So in 97 the band was pretty much done. you can find the singles on Spotify and Apple music if you are interested. hope this was vaguely interesting

[@soundofhistory_]

That’s so cool! Thanks for sharing that story. I’ll definitely check it out on Spotify

[@schmalman]

@@soundofhistory_ my pleasure. there are other artists named spiffy out there, so the best way to find is is to search for "spiffy secret". secret is the name of the first a side single. if you start playing a spiffy song and and it sounds remarkably like descendents, that's us. I believe that Tony wrote the music to all of the songs we released. Joel definitely wrote the lyrics to secret. elastic records still sells the 45 we released through them online, but the other label, junk records, went out of business so you can only get those songs online. the sixth song, "Way I Feel" which we didn't officially release is floating around the interwebs somewhere. I think I have a copy of it somewhere too. I should also mention that Bill was heavily involved in miking the kit and developing the overall sound, it was Stephen Edgerton who actually engineered the tracks and was extremely generous with his time and is an all-around great guy.

[@schmalman]

@@soundofhistory_ You will have to search on Spiffy secret (which is the name of one of the songs) because there are other artists named spiffy that are way more popular - we couldn't fill a telephone booth... If you start playing it and it sounds a lot like Descendents, that's us

[@schmalman]

@@soundofhistory_ Glad you liked it - When you search, search for Spiffy secret - otherwise you will find a different artist named spitty - if you click a spiffy song and it sounds like descendents, thats us

[@schmalman]

@@soundofhistory_ My pleasure! One more note - Tony didn't leave the descendents for his job at the post office - he hated that job. But he wanted the job and a house for the real reason he left the band: to be with his then girlfriend, Bo, who he intended to marry. (Her full name is much longer, but I can't remember it - The Tony/A:LL record is dedicated to her). That relationship ultimately didn't work out, which made his decision to leave the band something that he very much regretted. Had they stayed together, who knows?

[@stephenfrancis303]

Im from south bay lomita ca the allroy sez records is hung up in alfredos resturant in lomita the same city milo was born in. Bill is from torrance the next city over. Im proud of my lil 90717 and of all the bands to come out the south bay/harbor area. pennywise decendents, minuetment, even black flag used to rehearse in hermosa beach. Ca. Then all the band from long beach dont get me started. We called the harbor area southbay where the ghetto meets the sea😂😂😂😂

[@andrewp182]

Just reading the title, yes.

[@rustyshackleford735]

❤

[@mikeythezero]

I love both the Descendants and All, Karl is one of if not the best bassists in all of pop-punk and Bill has produced so much amazing shit

[@gratefulblac]

Here's a couple of story suggestions - The Butthole Surfers or how a wacked out psychedelic punk band became cult heroes in the late 1980's. Another is the story of Joy Division - or how a forgotten corner of the UK became the cornerstone of the post punk world.

[@soundofhistory_]

I’ve thought about the butthole surfers, but idk, I’ve never really liked them. Joy division is definitely on the list. Might do that soon!

[@willieluncheonette5843]

personally speaking, I don't see them starting any new genre and I've been listening to punk since 1975.

[@MaximumNerd-bg9ho]

Honestly, I wish you would’ve elaborated on how the Descendents created the genre of Pop Punk.

[@soundofhistory_]

Fair. Maybe one day I'll do a history of Pop punk and talk about that more. Wanted to keep this more about their story than my opinions.

[@johnchedsey1306]

It's not so much as they created it, but bands were so heavily influenced and inspired by them. Okay, so they created it, but was not like they sat in a lab and mapped it all out (plus it can be argued Buzzcocks were way ahead of the curve with pop punk)

[@richiedagger733]

Buzzcocks had them beat

[@diri.solidariti]

That’s a whole other research direction, man. How lazy are you to ask for the rabbit hole be served to you instead of clicking on on your own accord.

[@reginaayat5390]

There were plenty of other bands doing pop punk in the 70s. Buzzcocks for example

[@richiedagger733]

How can i find some music by the last? The surf element intrigues me.

[@soundofhistory_]

It’s on KZbin and Spotify! It helps to search album names. If I remember correctly, one is called LA Explosion or something like that

[@richiedagger733]

@soundofhistory_ cool, thanks. I looked it up on KZbin before I commented but I kept coming up with "the last band"

[@reginaayat5390]

You didn't mention Milestone Mulos band in grad school

[@christopherknowles]

Holding the microphone really exacerbates how you don’t know what to do with your hands.

[@adamtucker3128]

That's Doug, not Karl at 21:19

[@mattmorris1493]

Have you seen Filmage?

[@gypsydildopunks7083]

I saw All 9-10 times just to hear Descendants covers.

[@timdohms2604]

You jumped straight from Dave Smalley to Chad Price while yadda yadda-ing right over Scott Reynolds. Yeah, you said you wouldn't be going into All as a band too much, but that jump over makes it seem like Scott wasn't a part of any of the process. I was actually in the room (and boat) when Scott was asked to pen lyrics and record vocals for a school project All/Descendents song Stephan wanted for his kid, which as far as I know was never released for the public. Scott was here in Pensacola, Florida with us when it all went down and we found him a spot to record vocal tracks at the Dead Buggs house. Scott continues to collaborate with the Descendents as much as Chad does, so to see him left out of the conversation is dismissive. All three "common" singers (minus Smalley, that is) routinely take turns representing All/Descendents with Milo the very clear main man. Just sucks to see Scott left out of this. Such an underrated vocalist. Represent!

[@MistaMahoney]

fat mike wrote in the song 13 stitches that he heard kabuki girl on the radio and got on the bus to go buy his all time favorite record

[@megaflux7144]

man.. dont put the blame for "pop punk" on them. thats just fucked.

[@jefflambert8825]

This is basically a book report of Filmage.

[@soundofhistory_]

I mean…they are telling the same story. Is it shocking to you that two things telling the same story are similar?

[@mlwsf]

Damn, Scott Reynolds gets no respect.. Dave Smalley did one ALL records. Scott did at least 4 before Chad took over. I know that it wasn't meant to be an ALL doc but that was a massive jump.

[@craigpatrick1]

I can tell you watched the Filmage documentary for your research

[@soundofhistory_]

Definitely. It’s the most definitive account of their early history

[@goop2316]

FUCK YEAH THE BEST PUNK BAND

[@TheChadTI]

They are not as reveared as i think they should be. Dont let Twitter/X get a hold of their old lyrics though😅😅

[@fuggley]

Pretty cool vid. Thanks! But I just gotta say that Enjoy! is more than just toilet jokes. The title track is all about the stank, and there's that track of nothing but farts that comes across like a goofy skit on a rap record. But the rest of the album is pretty diverse. Just two examples. The pop-punk style they are known for in Cheer and the dark, sludginess of Days are Blood.

[@jayoakes7874]

quite the intro yikes

[@anthonyaiello4343]

And here I thought the Buzzcocks created pop punk. A punk style that almost entirely sucks, by the way.

[@glpz462]

I don't know about you, but I find it very disconcerting to think that Milo Auckerman might've been responsible for both fronting a great punk band and also poisoning half the country with PFOAs 😂

[@user-ql8kw2pl2k]

Never liked these guys music. Disliked their sound and all the bands that had that sound. That being said thier story was interesting and I liked this whole production. Great work

[@ScottM5.0]

I don’t “hate” the Descendants. They definitely ruined the common perception or definition of “punk”. Green G….Day & Dink 123 are not “punk”. Jon Spencer & J Mascis are the epitome. Hopping trains & dumpster diving isn’t cool.

[@user-yo4gl1fb2k]

They’re not even punk how’s that?

[@kookadams85]

I don't want to grow up.. 9 or 10 of the songs & their cover of Wendy was their apex 💯. Ya would've mentioned the Beach Boys specifically as being a crucial inspiration, also to the Last & the 'every summer day' single which is probably THE most top notch single from that scene/era. 🇺🇲🎶👌🏻

[@kookadams85]

Ya said Milo was born in '67 .... I'm pretty sure it was 63/4 cuz he "went to college" in '82 hence the l.p title. ✋🏻

[@soundofhistory_]

You’re right, don’t know why I said 67