[Pre Order] Descendents - Milo Goes to College (Grey Matter Vinyl) - LP * Vinyl Record Hub

One of the seminal works from the genre to become known as pop punk, the Descendents' Milo Goes to College arrived in the year 1982 as most of the members of the band were just finishing high school. They began by writing catchy, hummable melodies about girls, parents, and food, among other things. Despite their unabashedly juvenile lyrical approach, they played with a blistering intensity rivaling any of the bands in the burgeoning hardcore crowd that they fell in with. This winning formula has carried the group for decades, as their influence has inspired countless followers (some becoming far more famous) in their wake. Now, 43 years later, Descendents are reclaiming and reissuing the album that started it all.

The blueprint for pop-punk as we know it.

Starting with the classic rip-and-riff of 'Myage,' which started a long-standing trend of Descendents songs ending with '-age,' the four-piece pureed everything it loved — pop hooks, punk and hardcore thrash, and whatever else it enjoyed — and came up with an unpretentious, catchy winner.

It's not trying to pose as revolutionary — 'Suburban Home' is actually about wanting to settle in the suburbs — but it ended up starting its own kind of revolution. Freed from the bonds of having to sound exactly like Black Flag, the Descendents allowed everything from surf rock to power pop to seep into their sound. It's a difficult thing to understand in the age of social media — a band that truly didn't give a f*** about the approval of others — but it would go on to influence pop punk and spawn an entirely new genre of 'nerd rock.' Score one for individuality.