Descendents “9th & Walnut” 2021. Epitaph Records. Limited edition green vinyl. 80’s era California punk, now a lot older: their 8th studio LP – the “lost album” recorded in 2020 by the ’82 lineup, the songs all written between 1977-80. “Only three of the originals had been previously released, with the album featuring re-recordings of “Ride the Wild” and “It’s a Hectic World” from the band’s first 7″, as well as “Like the Way I Know”, an outtake from the Milo Goes to College sessions that was eventually released on the 1999 compilation The Blasting Room…recording started  way back in 2002…and featured drummer Bill Stevenson with former members guitarist Frank Navetta and bassist Tony Lombardo. The sessions laid dormant until the COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020, when singer Milo Aukerman recorded vocals at his home in Delaware. This marked the first time the “classic” lineup had been featured on a recording since Everything Sucks (1996), and the first album since Enjoy! (1986) not to feature current members Stephen Egerton and Karl Alvarez.” (Wiki) My top tracks are the long (for Descendents and this record; most tracks clock in around the one-minute mark) “Nightage,” the dancey “Tired of Being Tired,” the speedy “Like the Way I Know” (which seems to be credited to Dave Nolte of The Last, a 70’s/80’s garage-psych band that purportedly inspired Descendents and Black Flag), the all-out snotty punk’d “Yore Disgusting” and “It’s My Hair.”

We caught Descendents about a week and a half ago at Punk Rock Bowling in Vegas. I got one photo from pretty far away. I’ve seen them enough times that I didn’t feel the need to get to the rail.