Listen to a New Descendents Song and Oh God That Felt Good to Type

Photo: Kevin Scanlon

It would be wrong to call Descendents’ new album a “long-awaited” one because really, who the hell has been waiting on a new Descendents album? The iconic punk band hadn’t released a full-length in 12 years and, until recently, didn’t appear to have any plans to. It seemed liked an improbability, at best. But 2016 has been a wacky year, what with its Misfits reunions and its back-to-back icon deaths, and all. So here we are, in June of 2016 the Year of Our Lord, staring a new Descendents album in the face.

Hypercaffium Spazzinate, the band’s first full-length since 2004’s Cool to Be You, sees the classic lineup—Milo Aukerman, Bill Stevenson, Stephen Egerton, and Karl Alvarez—back at it without losing much of a step, musically. “Victim of Me,” the first song released off the album, captures their trademark short, fast, and melodic sound, but now, as Aukerman sings, “No longer will I travel aimlessly,” you’ve got to wonder if the members—who are now in their 50s—have finally matured from the kids they were when they wrote “I Don’t Want to Grow Up.” Although judging by Stevenson’s adulthood predilection for fart jokes, probably not.

Descendents will be making the festival rounds this summer, playing Punk Rock Bowling, Riot Fest, and Picnic in Pozo. And while recent band reunions have often produced some downright groan-worthy performances, with retired artists going back to the well one too many times when they should have just let their legacies rest, it’s refreshing to see Descendents—who overcame so much after Stevenson’s debilitating health issues—reclaim the punk throne and remind a younger generation how it’s done.

Listen to "Victim of Me" below. Hypercaffium Spazzinate will be released on July 29 via Epitaph. (Pre-order here.) The track listing is below if that's your thing.

1. Feel This
2. Victim Of Me
3. On Paper
4. Shameless Halo
5. No Fat Burger
6. Testosterone
7. Without Love
8. We Got Defeat
9. Smile
10. Limiter
11. Fighting Myself
12. Spineless and Scarlet Red
13. Human Being
14. Full Circle
15. Comeback Kid
16. Beyond The Music