Descendents‘ insanely classic debut album, 1982’s Milo Goes to College, is getting a new vinyl reissue, which marks the launch of Org Music’s reissue campaign of the band’s early catalog. We have an exclusive “ocean” colored variant, limited to 500 copies. Pre-order yours HERE while they last.
As Andrew previously wrote: outside of poppy first-wave punk bands like the Ramones, The Clash, and the Buzzcocks, there’s a good argument to be made that no album had a more profound impact on the development of pop punk than the Descendents’ first full-length, 1982’s Milo Goes to College. It was firmly rooted in the hardcore scene — released on the Minutemen’s New Alliance Records, produced by SST’s in-house producer Spot, and played with the same rawness, speed, and intensity as early Black Flag (who Descendents drummer Bill Stevenson later became a member of) — but the Descendents added in bright, catchy melodies through Milo Aukerman’s bratty, snotty delivery, and basically invented pop punk in the process. And it wasn’t just the sound of pop punk that Milo Goes to College paved the way for; it was the lyrical content too. With songs about hating your parents, wanting girls to like you, being a loser, and a hint of social criticism, Milo Goes to College laid out what would be the primary concerns for a large majority of pop punk bands to come. Just about every major pop punk band has sung the Descendents’ praises, but one band in particular who took notes directly out of Milo Goes to College‘s playbook was also the band who brought punk to its widest audience: blink-182. “[Descendents are] the only reason blink-182 existed,” Tom DeLonge once said. “It was the first band the three of us all agreed on.” Mark Hoppus said they “changed the trajectory of [his] life forever.” Even if they didn’t say it, just a cursory listen to blink-182’s ’90s output would make the Descendents’ influence very, very clear. When blink covered Milo Goes to College standout “Hope” without changing a single thing about it, it sounded… exactly like a blink-182 song. blink may have introduced this kind of music to more people than ever in the late ’90s and early 2000s, but it was the Descendents who created it.
Descendents are on tour with Teen Mortgage, Liquid Mike, and MattstaGraham through September, including a Montclair, NJ show at The Wellmont Theater on August 2. See all dates below.
DESCENDENTS: 2025 TOUR DATES
FRIDAY 18 – SUNDAY 20 JULY Denver, CO, US Punk In The Park 2025 National Western Stockyards
MONDAY 21 JULY Wichita, KS, US TempleLive Wichita
TUESDAY 22 JULY Oklahoma City, OK, US Tower Theatre
THURSDAY 24 JULY Fort Smith, AR, US TempleLive Fort Smith
SATURDAY 26 JULY Athens, GA, US Georgia Theater
SUNDAY 27 JULY Jacksonville, FL, US Five
TUESDAY 29 JULY Charleston, SC, US Music Farm
WEDNESDAY 30 JULY Charlotte, NC, US The Underground
THURSDAY 31 JULY Norfolk, VA, US The NorVa
SATURDAY 2 AUGUST Montclair, NJ, US The Wellmont Theater
SUNDAY 3 AUGUST Wilmington, DE, US The Queen
TUESDAY 5 AUGUST South Burlington, VT, US Higher Ground Ballroom
THURSDAY 7 AUGUST Albany, NY, US Empire Live
FRIDAY 8 AUGUST Allentown, PA, US Archer Music Hall
SATURDAY 9 AUGUST New Haven, CT, US College Street Music Hall
WEDNESDAY 27 AUGUST Halifax, NS, Canada Lighthouse Arts Center, Halifax, N.S.
THURSDAY 28 AUGUST Moncton, NB, Canada Casino New Brunswick
SATURDAY 30 AUGUST Montreal, QC, Canada MTELUS
SUNDAY 31 AUGUST Sherbrooke, QC, Canada Théâtre Granada
TUESDAY 2 SEPTEMBER Chicoutimi, QC, Canada La Saguenéenne
WEDNESDAY 3 SEPTEMBER Québec, QC, Canada Le Cabaret du Capitole
THURSDAY 4 SEPTEMBER Ottawa, ON, Canada Bronson Centre
FRIDAY 5 SEPTEMBER Toronto, ON, Canada Danforth Music Hall
MONDAY 8 SEPTEMBER Winnipeg, MB, Canada Burton Cummings Theatre
WEDNESDAY 10 SEPTEMBER Edmonton, AB, Canada Midway Music Hall
THURSDAY 11 SEPTEMBER Calgary, AB, Canada MacEwan Hall, University of Calgary
SATURDAY 13 SEPTEMBER Vancouver, BC, Canada Commodore Ballroom
SUNDAY 14 SEPTEMBER Vancouver, BC, Canada Commodore Ballroom
