Descendents “I Don’t Want to Grow Up” 1985. New Alliance Records (this copy a 1987 reissue on SST) Snotty, SoCal punk, the band’s second album, recorded after singer Milo Aukerman’s return to Descendents after attending college and drummer Bill Stevenson’s stint in Black Flag. While definitely punk, I Don’t Want to Grow Up is decidedly not hardcore (like Black Flag and other contemporary SoCal bands in the mid-80′s), instead veering into the brighter pop lane. From Wiki: “Rock critic Robert Christgau gave the album a B+ rating, saying ‘They don’t even know how to sing, they excoriate themselves as perverts for wanting sex, and when they fall in love they try to write Beatles songs. Chances are you’ll find them awkward, but I’m tremendously encouraged that they can fall in love at all. Anyway, their Beatles songs are pretty catchy.’” And Ned Raggett on Allmusic writes, “What’s to be expected given the title track, with a hilarious ‘nyah nyah!’ line on top of the chorus! Give a closer ear to the song, though – where the reason not to grow up is that it might ‘mean being like you’ – and the band’s core message of having fun and dealing with things as best one can in a stupid society is still there. When the four want to be straight up and perfectly poppy, they can and do with smashing success, with surprisingly mature, emotional lyrics and playing that doesn’t rely on all-speed all the time. “Can’t Go Back” is a great lost power-pop classic, with some of Aukerman’s best singing, a wonderful chorus and a tuneful reflection on not reliving past mistakes. “Christmas Vacation” is another winner, a heartfelt and sharp depiction of a relationship on the skids with some great, melancholy harmonies, while “My World” draws on Aukerman’s college years with a tale of personal frustration in an unfamiliar locale, all while rocking hard and strong. For all this there’s ridiculous humor everywhere – thus “Pervert,” which is at once frank and funny, saying ‘I’d hate to think that romance is just a pose/But all I want to do is rip off your clothes.’ “Rockstar,” which immediately follows, is a hyperspeed trashing that’s the understandable sequel to “Loser,” demolishing the title character with a series of brief putdowns before concluding with a drawled ‘Let’s exploit rock and roll to its fullest potential.’ But of course.”

Personally I have mixed feelings about this pop-punk sound. In the mid-80′s I listened to the harder stuff (The Germs, Black Flag, Dead Kennedys, etc) and only a little to Descendents, and then All, so I have a bias toward the familiar. I know the lighter stuff is more fun, accessible, and understandable!, but it provided an unfortunate blueprint for the 1990′s/early 2000′s copycat pop-punk bands that I really can’t stand.