“I want to be stereotyped…

 I want to be classified…”

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the album that laid the foundation of punk for decades to come — “Milo Goes to College” by Descendents. Originally released in 1982, this album was recently rereleased on Spotify to mark this pivotal anniversary. With fast paced, catchy baselines, hard hitting drums, and scratchy whiny vocals, the album holds all the most important and memorable aspects of 1980s punk.

“Milo Goes to College” is particularly important to me as it was my introduction to punk rock — the scene that blossomed my love for music. Although this album bears a small amount of notoriety, it is almost always within a certain scene and age group. The typical crowd at the Descendents concert looks like a sea of burnt out and graying, former punk rockers, mostly men who related to this music when they were young. However, emotions and sentiment are timeless, and in my opinion —  younger crowds will also appreciate it, learning where the roots of alternative music lay. 

This album will transform melancholy into motivated anger with its frantic guitar and personal lyrics. With tracks like “Bikeage,” “Hope,” and “I’m Not a Loser,” listeners resonate with lyrics and simultaneously feel more invigorated. The dejected songs of the album are balanced with songs like “Marriage,” a love proclamation filled with questions, along with anti-conformist anthems like “Suburban Home” and “I’m Not a Punk.”

Milo Aukerman, the lead singer of the band, really did go to college — the album was written as his departure from the band to attend the University of California to study biology and become a scientist. However, his love of music prevailed, and post-college, more and more albums were created and released by Descendents. While he was away, Ray Cooper was recruited as lead singer until his periodic returns, and his eventual full time return — departing from his scientific career in 2016 to perform in Descendents full-time.

This album has been critically acclaimed by many noteworthy magazines, listed in the top lists of influential punk and alternative albums by Spin, Kerrrang!, LA Weekly, and Rolling Stone.

Unlike many albums, especially modern pop albums, one listen won’t leave you bored. Instead, this album is good for as many listens possible, without losing its magic or allure. A full listen of this album leaves listeners nostalgic and hungry for more. Luckily, the Descendents have a full arsenal of albums like this, including the newly released 2021 album, “9th and Walnut,” with posthumous guitar tracks by Frank Nevetta, who passed away in 2008. However, this album remains a classic, and — just like Spin magazine, Rolling Stone, and more — I would title “Milo Goes To College” as one of the best and most influential alternative albums.