Why is Descendents’ Everything Sucks on my best 1,000 albums ever list?
So much that is so great (and so right) about punk rock.
What does Descendents’ Everything Sucks mean to me? What does it make me feel? Why is it exciting or compelling?
The Descendents do so much that is so right and so great about punk rock when everything is clicking: the energy, aggressive guitars mapped against melodic vocals and great, and hooky chord changes.
“I’m The One” is a great example, and at the moment my favorite song on Everything Sucks.
The almost title track, “Everything Sux,” tilts more into hardcore punk. It’s ebullient whereas much of the music in that genre can be muddy and/or angry, and even the chorus (“Everything sucks today!”) sounds so much more like catharsis, a badge of honor of sorts, a statement of purpose and identity.
Plus, and most importantly, it just rocks.
As a huge fan and consumer of coffee, I love and appreciate songs about the stuff. At thirty four seconds, “Coffee Mug” is a blast of musical caffeine and I am here for it.
The guitar on “Rotting Out” reminds me faintly (or not so faintly?) of Blink-182, and makes me think that if the Descendents had had slightly different timing in their careers or were perhaps marketed slightly differently, they could have easily broken out as a massively popular band with mainstream audiences.
Instead, they retain a core fan base of Those Who Know.
This album also sounds like
I kept thinking about Bad Religion while listening to Everything Sucks, in an entirely complimentary way. I have no background info about this, but it occurs to me that these two bands have likely influenced each other over the many years both have been around.
In fact, it also just occurred to me that the one time I was able to see both of these bands live, it was at the same show. The show was a New York City stop on the Van’s Warped Tour in the late ‘90s. The lineup was obscenely good, and also included the likes of the Suicide Machines, Voodoo Glow Skulls, Acquabats.
I also recall that the concert was on Randall’s Island. The large outdoor fields became insanely dusty from the massive crowds and it was super hot and humid in the NYC summer. I’m not a big on being hot, being in large crowds, or getting dirty, frankly. But the music at this event was actually worth it, I must say.
Some stats & info about Descendents – Everything Sucks
- What kind of musical stylings does this album represent? Punk Rock, SoCal Bands, College Rock, Pop Punk, Hardcore Punk, American Punk, Alternative Rock
- Rolling Stone’s greatest 500 albums ranking – not ranked!
- All Music’s rating – 3 out of 5 stars
- When was Everything Sucks released? 1996
- My ranking, the one you’re reading right now – #824 out of 1,000
Descendents’ Everything Sucks on Spotify
What does the “best 1,000 albums ever” mean and why are you doing this?
Yeah, I know it’s audacious, a little crazy (okay, maybe a lot cray cray), bordering on criminal nerdery.
But here’s what it’s NOT: a definitive list of the Greatest Albums of All-Time. This is 100% my own personal super biased, incredibly subjective take on what my top 1,000 albums are, ranked in painstaking order over the course of doing research for nearly a year, Rob from High Fidelity style. Find out more about why I embarked on a best 1,000 albums ever project.