Descendents - 'Merican

It has been seven years since the last Descendents album ('Everything Sucks'). This has been their longest period of time off since singer Milo Aukerman went back to college in the '80s and became Dr Milo Aukerman. After that sabbatical they came back in 1996. Then there was some hope for punk-rock. The Offspring hadn't quite totally sold out and Green Day were still just about ok. This time punk-rock-pop has plumbed new depths. The Offspring are playing arena tours off the back of increasingly monotonous albums. Green Day have got fatter as their music has got thinner. As if that wasn't painful enough we have to put up with Busted. The Descendents were always slightly different. Their pop-punk was equally as catchy and fun as their contemporaries but they never quite achieved the same success. Their songs were always close to the punk-rock ideal: damn fun, short, simple, catchy, loud. 'Nothing With You' (first song on this EP) is better than anything the Offspring have done since 'Self Esteem', better than anything Green Day have done since 'Welcome to Paradise' and better than anything Busted have ever done or will ever do. At a second over two and a half minutes it is pretty much the ideal punk rock length. It really sounds like they never went away. The other tracks are a competent run through of the normal punk staples - a Bad-Religion type rant about America, a song to a departed girl, another about how they don't like being a punk band anymore. The hidden track is - shockingly - a slow song. Well, slow for a Descendents track. Two of the five tracks on this release are from the forthcoming album 'Cool To Be You', which is due out in March. The album and this EP are unlikely to win the hearts and minds of those who don't already like punk-rock. But I will be surprised if I don't see a large number of spotty teens suddenly sporting "Descendents" sweatshirts in a month or so.