Awful Album Reviews #9: Descendents - Milo Goes To College

Hey guys, welcome back to another album review! Today, we will be checking out the 1982 punk rock classic Milo Goes To College by the Descendents. I have heard that this band and album was an influence on many more modern punk bands I love, and that this record was loved by many great artists, such as Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters and Fat Mike of NOFX. It has also been recommended to me by both last.fm and Spotify based on my taste, so I think now is a great time to give it a listen. I have not heard anything from this band before today, so this will mostly be first impressions. It should be fun. Let's get to it!



INTRODUCTION

Milo Goes To College is the debut album released by punk rock band the Descendents in 1982. Released through The Minutemen's label New Alliance Records, the album's title is a reference to how lead singer Milo Aukerman wanted to leave the band so he could attend college. The album's cover is supposed to be a drawing of Aukerman, and it later became the band's mascot, appearing on five of their seven studio albums. This record is often considered as one of the most significant albums of a hardcore movement taking place in Southern California in the early 1980s, and many publications have called it a very noteworthy punk album. Sounds like a pretty good album, right? Well, let's listen to it and see. It's only 22 minutes long so it shouldn't be that grating.



REVIEW

So my first impression of this band's sound and style is that it's very punk. It has the sound of the bass that I'm used to hearing in punk music, and the hardcore feel created by the drums and driving power chords. Singer Milo Aukerman sounds a bit different than I expected, as I expected him to sound a little bit like Greg Graffin of Bad Religion. Not sure why but I just did. But I like his voice okay, it's not the best in punk but it does well. And going on into the second and third tracks the bass, provided by Tony Lombardo, really stands out as what it should be. The bass is a fundamental part of punk rock music and if a band has a great bassist like him then they have a great foundation for making everything else good. I read some about him before and I learned about his playing technique and how he practices, and I thought that was very unique and inspiring. Plus, he's 20 years older than the other band members, which was kind of amusing. Maybe that plays a part in why he seems to be so talented? I don't know.

As for the style in this album, some of the songs remind me a lot of Bad Religion's 1982 album How Could Hell Be Any Worse. I plan on reviewing that album in full in a future post, but I'll just say here that that record has a very distinct style of punk rock that turns out to be unforgettable. Because it's so unforgettable, I thought of that record when I heard a lot of the songs on this one. I'm not saying that this is copying that record or trying too hard to be like it or anything, because that record came out in the same year as this one, I just like to hear that sound. Frank Navetta provides great guitars that help give it this vibe and just a great punk sound in general. Unfortunately, though, about a quarter of a century after leaving the band, he became ill and ultimately passed away, so #RIPFrankNavetta I guess. And drummer Bill Stevenson, who is actually the band's only constant member, did a great job drumming, because fast and upbeat drums really help in making a good punk sound. He seems to be good at that. Also, he wrote or co-wrote six of the album's songs, which is pretty good for someone you wouldn't expect to help with the writing. I think the album was well-produced as well, so props to producer Spot for that. Really everything in this album is at least under the good or decent tier, and I can see now why it's so iconic. I think the icony sort of comes from the album's sound rather than the songs on it, but I will go through each of those anyways. Here are my short reviews of each track.



TRACK-BY-TRACK REVIEWS

1. "Myage"
Rating: 9.5/10
Comments: This song gave me a really good first impression of this band, and that is always good. Lombardo's bass in the song is great and the punk sound here is real. Definitely a keeper.

2. "I Wanna Be a Bear"
Rating: 8.5/10
Comments: This was short but pretty sweet. The good vibes continue to go on here and it's cool.

3. "I'm Not a Loser"
Rating: 9/10
Comments: This song was pretty catchy and the lyrics somewhat stood out for some reason.

4. "Parents"
Rating: 8/10
Comments: The bass stands out a bit here again and I love that. But the lyrics are a bit questionable. They sound a bit like something from a 2000s emo or post grunge song. And I'm not too sure that belongs in punk rock. But I don't mind it too much, I guess.

5. "Tony Age"
Rating: 7/10
Comments: The talking parts here are not the best, but the instrumental is good.

6. "M-16"
Rating: 9/10
Comments: This was catchy, not exactly a keeper but it came really close.

7. "I'm Not a Punk"
Rating: 9.5/10
Comments: I immediately got some early Bad Religion vibes from that opening instrumental. They sort of continued into the song and I kind of enjoyed that. It sets this song apart.

8. "Catalina"
Rating: 9.5/10
Comments: Again, that bass in the intro always seems to set a great stage for the song. And I hear a little bit of early Bad Religion in this, too. I like their early style and it's good to hear another band that does it.

9. "Suburban Home"
Rating: 9.5/10
Comments: Catchy song, the guitars work very well with Aukerman's singing. A very well made punk song.

10. "Statue of Liberty"
Rating: 9.5/10
Comments: I promise I'll shut up about early Bad Religion after this, but seriously, that kind of style in songs like this makes them good for me. Not every song has it but a lot of the ones that do, like this one, are keepers.

11. "Kabuki Girl"
Rating: 9/10
Comments: The guitars here seem to stand out, as they give the song a great vibe. Everything else is good as well.

12. "Marriage"
Rating: 9/10
Comments: The great classic punk sound shows up a lot here. I like Aukerman's singing and the guitars accompany it very well. That makes for a good song.

13. "Hope"
Rating: 9.5/10
Comments: I liked this one a lot. Not sure why but it reminded me a lot of the song "Happy Guy" from NOFX's Punk In Drublic. And this is the third-to-last song in the album just like that one, so it's obviously good like it is.

14. "Bikeage"
Rating: 9.5/10
Comments: Another keeper here. All of the instruments come together here to form a great background track to accompany the great singing from Aukerman. Exactly what I want to hear.

15. "Jean Is Dead"
Rating: 9.5/10
Comments: The bass strikes again here. And this seems to be Aukerman at his best because the song sort of feels like an anthem. Great way to close this out.


Favorite songs: "Myage", "Bikeage", "Hope", "I'm Not a Punk", and pretty much all the other 9.5/10s

Least favorite songs: "Tony Age", "Parents", "I Wanna Be a Bear", although I liked all of the songs on this.



OVERALL ALBUM SCORE

135.5/150 = 9.03333/10 = 0.903333 = 90.3333%



FINAL WORDS

Well, I think that what everyone said about this album is true. It was a great listen. The punk sound here topped all, and all of the instruments came together very nicely to make something that really pleased my ears. I would definitely listen to it again. And I recommend it to anyone who wants to know what early punk rock sounds like. You won't get many later punk vibes from it, but the early ones are good enough.

And that will wrap up this post. Thank you to everyone who read it, and if you think that this album might be one that you would enjoy listening to, then you can check it out on YouTube here or on Spotify here. Also, if you have any suggestions for future posts, whether it's an album, song, or chart for me to review, or a top ten, then I would be glad to do it, so please contact me wherever to give me those. So yeah, thanks again and I'll see you guys again soon!