Descendents
Milo Goes to College
[Org Music Reissue]
There have been few albums in my life that have been breakthrough albums. The kind of albums that open your mind. Albums that, when they hit you, you say to yourself, “Oh, wait a minute. I see it now.” Like that final scene in the Matrix: you can finally see the coding that’s been floating in front of you all along. I’d like to sit down one day and take note of these albums in my life (The Clash’s London Calling, Swingin’ Utters’ self-titled album), but I’ll draw those connective strings some other day.
Strangely, Milo Goes to College wasn’t my first experience with the Descendents. That was Everything Sucks. That album just came at a perfect time and I felt it was speaking to me personally. Milo Goes to College helped me UNDERSTAND west coast hardcore better. Let’s be honest, it all falls into a blur of noise, for the most part, and that’s because it’s such a homogenic kind of music. I love it, mind you, but after some standouts like Black Flag, Circle Jerks, and maybe Germs, what have you got? The Plugs? The Bags? The Stains? Husker Du and Minutemen don’t count, because they’re not hardcore. Not exactly. They played with those bands, but that’s like calling the Replacements hardcore. I can see why, but they also quickly helicoptered out of that genre.
But the Descendents were a hardcore band and sang about the same things hardcore was singing about (misfits, rejection…), but used that format to do something new, more or less. They made it poppy. They made it about girls. One wonders if that was the point of the band all along, considering how much of an influence The Last was on them, but original guitarist Frank Navetta also cautioned that, without fast hardcore songs, they’d get beat up at shows. Milo Goes to College tries and give that crowd what they wanted, but also what the band itself wanted at the same time. In the process they WELCOMED the rest of us into the genre. It’s a short album, and within it packs the recipe for how to make hardcore sweet. Is there a single song here that’s not a classic? Is there a single song here that shouldn’t be on the radio, or carefully studied and stored for reference?
Milo Goes to College is widely known. Milo’s face has even taken a Misfits-like status, being ubiquitous and emblazoning all sorts of merchandise. But the music itself? Like with anything SST, Milo Goes to College is fraught with legal issues. So much so that band leader Bill Stevenson had to completely rerecord the instrumental tracks in “Myage” with an old vocal track from its singer Milo Aukerman to fulfill a request for a Tony Hawk video game. The band has had all the tapes and now finally a remastered version of the album has seen the light of day. The rest of the discography is already underway. There’s no stopping this train.
But now, upon revisiting the album, its urgency is evident as ever. It still hits. I still love it. Having Milo Goes to College available again is great, but it also is disappointingly minimalistic. I wish there was more of it. Much more. It’s great that it’s back out there in wide(r?) circulation but, as a fan, I wish there was more. Why did we not get an expanded version? Surely, there are tons of extras from that era which could have been included for the fans? (FOR THE FANS). Live shows? B-sides? Alternate takes? That rerecorded “Myage” I mentioned earlier?
I guess it’s best not to be greedy. Of course, everyone should have Milo Goes to College. Everyone should KNOW it, its’ influence is undeniable. Dave Grohl reminds us he wouldn’t be in a band if it weren’t for this album….or thousands of others. Bravo to Org music for reissuing it, but pardon me as I try to peek behind the curtains to see what else is going on behind the scenes of these reissues? Do they take requests?
photo: turntablelab.com
Further Reading:
Ground Control – Classics [Column, 2015] – Descendents – Milo Goes To College
