Does anyone still remember the Descendents? Hopefully! The Californian punk band, founded in 1978, was, alongside Bad Religion, a defining influence on melodic hardcore. For twelve years, the band had been relatively quiet; their last album, "Cool To Be You," was released back in 2004. But periods of silence, breakups, and reunions are practically par for the course with The Descendents; somehow, they always managed to pick up where they left off. And so it is again now. "Hypercaffium Spazzinate" is the quartet's ninth studio album. It was recorded by Milo Aukerman (vocals), Stephen Egerton (guitar), Karl Alvarez (bass), and Bill Stevenson (drums), the same lineup that has been together since 1986. And that's not the only continuity The Descendents offer: the 16 new tracks, as usual, rarely reach the magic three-minute mark and are driven by the same unbridled energy that the four have always brought to their pop-infused punk songs. This is thanks to "the forces they draw from "Rejection, food, coffee, girls, fishing, and food" are what they're all about, as they themselves say. It's that simple. Although the recording sessions were anything but straightforward and dragged on for years, since all four musicians live in different states.
