A brief but satisfying taste of the Californian legends’ early days!
Well, the Descendents certainly need no introduction from us! The Californian quartet helped lay the foundations for much of what could be termed pop-punk, with their landmark debut ‘Milo Goes To College’ in 1982. They’re still going strong to this day, but on ‘Bonus Fat’, they take us back in time to some of their earliest recordings.
There’s quite a contrast here between the surf/power-pop sound of their debut single ‘Ride The Wild’/‘It’s A Hectic World’ and the short sharp bursts of hardcore punk that are ‘I Like Food’ and ‘Wienerschnitzel’ (taken from their early ‘Fat’ EP, included in its entirety here), but the band were always at their best when they found the middle ground between the two.
‘My Dad Sucks’ and ‘Mr. Bass’ are pretty much the blueprint for melodic hardcore, a perfect balance of melody and velocity, whilst ‘Hey Hey’ is glorious in its Ramones-esque simplicity. There’s also a compilation outtake, ‘Global Probing’, which suddenly kicks up a gear halfway through, and is damned addictive for a song that only lasts one minute. They always have known how to make every second count, these guys.
Essential? Not quite up there with ‘Milo Goes To College’, but then, very few records are. ‘Bonus Fat’ is the sound of a band still finding their feet, but very much in possession of the melodic nous and lyrical irreverence that would come to definite them. Oh, and at eight tracks in only 10-odd minutes, you have no excuse for not finding the time to give it a listen. A fun and revealing insight into the formative years of one of punk rock’s most essential and enduring bands.
‘Bonus Fat’ is released on 13th November via Org Music – pre-order it HERE.
Main Photo Credit: EDWARD COLVER
- My Dad Sucks
- Mr Bass
- I Like Food
- Hey Hey
- Weinerschnitzel
- Global Probing
- Ride The Wild
- It’s A Hectic World
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