Events

[PUNK] It’s not crazy to argue that the Descendents were the prototypical pop punk band. And it’s not a bad thing that they, at least in part, guided punk’s serious anti-authoritarianism toward fart jokes and girls. If it weren’t for the Descendents, we probably wouldn’t have bands like NoFX, Face to Face, Green Day, Weezer, or Blink 182 (whose drummer, Travis Barker, has a version of the Descendents’ iconic Milo logo tattooed on his leg). For someone like me, who was too young to appreciate the Descendents in the 1980s and 1990s, it was the appreciation and respect of the Descendents from these usually irreverent bands that made me go out and buy their records, like Milo Goes to College and Everything Sucks (on CD). One of those two albums, Everything Sucks, which I personally consider a classic, came after the band’s first breakup—there have been four breakups and five reformations over the years—a testament to the band’s staying power. Throughout all of those breakups, the band has maintained the same lineup since 1986, and drummer Bill Stevenson has been in the band since their formation in 1978 in Manhattan Beach, California. Catch that lineup at Buffalo RiverWorks on Friday, August 3 with Wilhelm Scream and Pavers, featuring Scott Reynolds from All.