Back in Australia for the first time since 2012, punk rock pioneers, DESCENDENTS return in February 2017 in support of their new album, Hypercaffium Spazzinate.
To say that the DESCENDENTS invented pop punk is a gross understatement. They perfected the warp-speed amalgam of adolescent angst, snotty attitude and championship melody infesting the airways today. “You can draw a straight line from their records to modern punk acts,” proclaim Nerdist. They took a genre that was about spikes, chaos and anarchy, and brought it to earth, singing about girls, growing up and food.
Formed in 1978 against the fertile musical backdrop of Los Angeles’ South Bay scene (Black Flag, Minutemen etc), the caffeine-addled crew were less interested in social movements than bowel movements, with Rolling Stone declaring, “DESCENDENTS are the most playful group to emerge from the SoCal hardcore scene”.
Fast forward to 2016, and lo and behold, the DESCENDENTS are back in the saddle with the release of their first full length in 12 years, Hypercaffium Spazzinate – a nod to Descendents’ well-documented coffee obsession. Sure, the guys are now writing as adults – in the loosest sense of the term, but there’s a renewed sense of punk rock energy here. It’s faster, more reckless, and more intense.
No one’s accusing the DESCENDENTS of maturity. For the better part of the band’s four-decade career, they’ve been the gold standard for puerility in pop-punk. But what do you expect from a band that pledged “Thou shalt not commit adulthood”?
Punk, pop, buzzing, summery, heartfelt, defiant, adolescent and wise all at once – The DESCENDENTS sound never gets old. Don’t miss your chance to witness live performances of classic tracks, ‘I’m the One’, ‘I Don’t Wanna Grow Up’, ‘Everything Sucks’ and ‘Silly Girl’.
DESCENDENTS
AUSTRALIAN TOUR FEBRUARY 2017
Thursday 16th February – The Gov, Adelaide
Friday 17th February – Capitol, Perth
Monday 20th February – 170 Russell, Melbourne
Wednesday 22nd February – Eatons Hill, Brisbane
Friday 24th February – Enmore Theatre, Sydney