The Descendents are the best band ever, so it comes as no surprise the South Bay group's blend of melodious, angst-fueled lyrics with open-chord surf riffs and power-chord aggression has influenced a handful of other acts since the early 1980s.
Some of these artists picked up where the Descendents left off, while others miss the mark completely. But for every Strung Out, there's the Lemonheads. In gambling terms, that's what we call a push.
Here, for your reading pleasure, are a few of both.
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ALL.
The most obvious Descendents-influenced band is ALL,
comprised of Descendents members Stephen Egerton (guitar),
Karl Alvarez (bass) and Bill Stevenson (drums). Along with singers Dave
Smalley, Scott Reynolds and Chad Price (this reporter's favorite of the
three), ALL took the pop-punk formula created by the Descendents and
tweeked it just enough to make it new.
Songs such as “She's My Ex,” “Fool”
and “Original Me” fit effortlessly into any Descendents set list (and
often are performed when Aukerman is on the mic), while the more
abstract “Birds” and “Paper Tiger” show the instrumentalists breaking
free from punk's three-chord limitations for a sound that borrows as
much from prog rock as it does the Ramones.
ALL aren't nearly as popular
as the Descendents, which really is a bummer because they are a great
band in their own right. The problem is, the Descendents are part of
SoCal punk lore, and ALL isn't. They don't help themselves much in
this area, either, as the group are
almost certain to play a handful of
Descendents songs during their shows, and wouldn't ya know it? These are
the tunes the kids go crazy for. Perhaps drawing a line in the sand
might have helped ALL create a separate identity from their previous
group, but it's far too late for that.
Black Flag
Okay, in terms
of musical influence, Black Flag borrowed nothing from the Descendents.
But in terms of actual musicians, the South Bay downstrumming icons
were drummer Stevenson's main band for a few years during the mid-1980s. During his tenure, the skinsman toured with Greg Ginn and
company and played on the My War, Slip it In, Loose Nut, Family Man,
The Process of Weeding Out, In My Head and Live '84 records.
The
Lemonheads
The Lemonheads are really just singer/guitarist/songwriter
Evan Dando and whomever else he feels like playing with. For 2005's
self-titled album on Vagrant Records, Dando enlisted Stevenson and
Alvarez as his rhythm section. The trio toured for the album, and at one
show, Aukerman joined the threesome for a rendition of the Angry
Samoans' “Right Side of My Mind.”
blink-182
There's some band
from San Diego called blink-182. I guess they've sold some records or
something. Anyway, drummer Travis Barker has the I Don't Want to Grow
Up baby Milo tattooed on him (and the word “Hope,” a well-known
Descendents song), but the Descendents love doesn't stop there for San
Diego's pop-punkers, as these guys have been known to cover the songs
“Hope” (and Blink-182 off-shoot +44 covered “Christmas Vacation”)
between telling fart jokes to hyperactive teenagers.
NOFX
When I was in high school, the one band the cool surfers and the
not-getting-laid lame-os that were me and my friends could agree on was
the Descendents. The water-logged knuckleheads always cited NOFX as the
reason they dug the Descendents, and behind their super tanned backs, I
used to wonder what in the hell the aural travesty that is NOFX could
have in common with my favorite band.
Then I discovered there was
this stretch of what felt like 55 years when singer/bassist Fat Mike
wore nothing but the I Don't Want to Grow Up T-shirt. Unfortunately,
the ink from the shirt didn't wear off on NOFX's music because, of all
the bands to cite the Descendents as an influence, the NorCal quartet
seem to be listening to different
records than the rest of us.
Instead of penning melodic punk tunes that resonate with the losers in
high school, NOFX helped usher in a wave of jock punk catered to dudes
who beat up the losers in high school.
Face to Face
As if
covering “Bikeage” weren't enough Descendents love, the Victorville
pop punks borrowed the lines “You don't know what you want/It may take
you years to find out” from “Hope” for their mega-hit “Disconnected.” Kids
with nothing better to do used to complain about the “sampling,” but in
full disclosure, I used to work for Vagrant Records (co-owned by Face
to Face manager Rich Egan), and this subject came up once.
Egan
explained it was a nod to the Descendents, not thievery, which I
already assumed because I wasn't a kid with nothing better to do. While
I admit I was never much of a Face to Face fan, I will go on record as
saying these were some of the nicest band members on the label during
my tenure there, and their love of the Descendents was very, very
genuine.
Emo bands
Every band that falls into the emo
category owes the Descendents a royalty check. Back when punk lost a
tinge of its arty weird side and became about dudes with shaved heads
yelling about Reagan, the Descendents were singing about stuff that
really mattered. Stuff like parents, girls and food. Perhaps today's
emo bands don't sing about eating (though they should), but the idea of an
underground rock band expressing their frustration with something other
than cops and the government was created by the South Bay icons.
For
teenage angst, nothing beats Frank Navetta's “Parents,” in which
Aukerman sings, “Parents, why won't they shut up?/Parents, they're so
fucked-up/They treat me like a tool/They take me for a fool.”
And as
far as the subject of the heartache that comes only from humans with
two Y chromosomes, the Descendents perfected that craft. The
Stevenson/Navetta track “Marriage” painfully says, “Now you know what I
think about you/You know that my speed is true/I know I want you to be
my wife/And be with me the rest of your life,” while Stevenson's “Jean Is Dead” explains, “Your mother told me last night on the phone/Why'd
you do it/Now I'm alone/I would have helped you/Would have done
anything/Would have taken you with me or bought you a ring/Now you're
gone, and I'm alone.” It's just like Dashboard Confessional, except
good.
