All

(Translated from my original Italian text by ChatGPT and Piero Scaruffi)

In 1979, the 45 RPM single Ride The Wild introduced the Descendents as a promising humorous punk-rock band. Two years later, the EP Fat (New Alliance) changed the game, presenting a hyper-fast, hyper-concise hardcore band engaged in satires such as Mr Bass, Hey Hey, and My Dad Sucks, as well as wicked epigrams (the eleven seconds of Weinerschnitzel and the fifteen of I Like Food became legendary).

When singer Milo Aukerman decided to return to his studies, the band conceived a concept album dedicated to him, Milo Goes To College (New Alliance, 1982). In retrospect, the album is notable not only as one of punk rock’s first concept albums, but also as a portrait of the frustrated lives of metropolitan teenagers: songs like My Age and I'm Not A Punk reflect the alienation experienced by many youths of the time. And, unusually for punk rock, it even addresses the topic of girls (Kabuki Girl, Marriage), which most considered inappropriate.
These are tracks characterized by a sound as raw as it is frenzied: tribal drumming (the main instrument), booming bass, frenzied guitar riffs, and screaming vocals. The choruses are so elementary that they recall the most minimalist Ramones (the resemblance borders on plagiarism in Bikeage). Much of the album (for example, Suburban Home) is satirical toward the "American way of life," but the homicidal scream of Parents belongs to punk rock’s more tragic side: it is the cry of pain from a generation abandoned by their parents and society at large. Jean is Dead and Hope leave a lasting mark on the consciences of that generation. Overall, the album is a milestone in hardcore, opening new expressive horizons.

Drummer Bill Stevenson, the soul of the band, moved on to Black Flag, delivering the death blow to the Descendents. Yet even they had the chance to resurrect soon after: I Don't Want To Grow Up (New Alliance, 1985) reintroduced them in a Big Star-style power-pop form (the title track), with new guitarist Ray Cooper, but above all with greater compositional and performance skills (Pervert, Don't Go Back).

Consequently, the decline in quality of Enjoy (New Alliance, 1986) was surprising. It was composed and performed with a prepubescent mentality, though it included the long experimental ballad Days Are Blood and the anthem Get The Time. The absence of bassist Tony Lombardo, replaced by the more emphatic (and less brilliant compositionally) Karl Alvarez, is felt. All (SST, 1987), whose title track went down in history as the shortest song ever composed (one second), attempted to reinvent hardcore in light of new Stephen Egerton’s heavy metal guitar work, which penalized the melodies. Pep Talk and Clean Sheets still honor the memory of the Buzzcocks.

In 1988, Bill Stevenson took the last Descendents lineup without Milo (Alvarez and Egerton), hired Dave Smalley (fresh from two mediocre but much-talked-about bands, Boston straight-edge Dys and Washington pop-core Dag Nasty), and formed All. The sound of Allroy Sez (Cruz, 1988) is even more melodic and satirical than that of the concept album Milo. The only difference is the guitar, in the foreground as in the last Descendents record. Farcical songs like Pretty Little Girl and Skin Deep still display hardcore frenzy but retain none of the original genre’s anger or intent. Just Perfect (the single) and Hooidge are manifestos of Stevenson’s new power-pop, featuring a neutral yet punchy heavy-metal-inspired sound with supersonic beats, pulsing bass, and catchy melodies. Indeed, Sex In The Way, despite its swinging cadence, and Postage (on the EP Allroy For Prez), echo the beat style of the Shoes.

The subsequent albums, with Scott Reynolds on vocals, confirmed the band’s tendency to reference Beatles and Beach Boys and to complicate harmonies with unusual rhythms and counterpoints (sometimes bordering on the second-era King Crimson). The results were exciting only in rare cases, usually one song per album: She's My Ex from the most ambitious Allroy's Revenge (Cruz, 1989), and Just Like Them (by Milo) from the even more sophisticated Allroy Saves (Cruz, 1990). These are albums in which Stevenson and Reynolds present more mature themes and perform them with more complex harmonies.

Percolater (Cruz, 1992) officially inaugurated the melodic era, building on the technical maturity of the previous albums and explicitly focusing on the hooks of Hot Plate, Empty, and especially Minute. The All were increasingly becoming a Big Star copy and less of a punk band.

The reunion with bassist Tony Lombardo produced the mediocre New Girl Old Story (Cruz, 1991), attributed to Tonyall.

For the record, Tony Lombardo’s solo album, New Girl Old Story (Cruz), recorded in 1991, cannot boast the flawless production of the All, but it contains the melodies that Stevenson no longer knows how to compose.

Milo Aukerman, after earning a degree in Biology, formed the Milestones, whose repertoire indeed includes Just Like Them.

Chad Price took over vocals after the band relocated first to Missouri and then to Colorado, but the style did not change, remaining confined to this somewhat messy popcore and surf-punk. The novelty of Breaking Things (Cruz, 1993) is rather the deafening, epileptic production, placing their sound halfway between Cheap Trick (Original Me) and Bad Religion (Shreen, Right, and especially Guilty).

Having completely lost their punk innocence, the All attempted chart success with Pummel (Atlantic, 1994). Egerton and Price behave like the leaders of a typical melodic heavy metal band, even though the sound oscillates between rock and roll (Self-Righteous), pop (the excellent Long Distance, Million Bucks), and hardcore (Stalker).

The Descendents reformed (meaning Milo reunited with the All) for Everything Sucks (Epitaph, 1996).

Mass Nerder (Epitaph, 1998) still features another catchy chorus, Honey Peeps.

Stevenson never managed to put together a completely successful album, neither with the Descendents (who, in the end, never really had a true classic song) nor with the All.

The project was resurrected a couple of times to release Hypercaffium Spazzinate (2016) and 9th & Walnut (2021).