Review: Descendents – “9th & Walnut”

Epitaph, 23 July 2021

Descendents makes the old new again on this timeless time capsule.

Okay, so others have already written about the album’s origin story extensively enough and you can check out 9th & Walnut’s backstory by reading around a bit (including here, here, or here).  Descendents, however, are one of my very favorite bands and I can’t let a new record go by without writing it up.  On that note, below are a few thoughts on 9th & Walnut.  

9th & Walnut serves as a sort of bigfoot for Descendents, popping out a valuable missing link that connects the early jangle, the buzzing super kinetic pop punk, and the indelible 60’s pop hooks the band do so well.  High energy fare like the opening salvo of “Sailor’s Choice”, “Crepe Suzette”, and “You Make Me Sick” blast and hold with first-run bassist Tony Lombardo’s lines sounding melodic and popping and first-run (and now late) guitarist Frank Navetta’s guitars jangling and serrating in short bursts of manic fervor while Bill anchors and fills the beats and Milo yells and hollers lines like “I’d kill you right now, but you’re a little outta range” like a caffeinated 20 year old.  First album single “Baby Doncha Know” digs into an adolescent charm and spirit that is greatly endearing and “Like the Way I Know” is a fast ripper with jangly guitars and an earworm bass that won’t quit.  And silly romps like “Yore Disgusting” hit because of the playful enthusiasm they come at it with.

And while this is pretty much embryonic Descendents songwriting, these songs show the band’s 60’s pop affections.  “Tired of Being Tired” goes through melodic changes and awesome backing vocals while the buzzing up-and-down guitar riff sinks in deep.  Others, like the punk origin story “Mohicans” and the just-right-girl “I Need Some” blend admirable energy and pace with melodies that could come from any given British invasion record and they end up as some of the catchiest songs of the bunch.  As if to drive the point home, they even close the record with “Glad All Over”, a fantastically buzzing take on the Dave Clark Five pop gold song that keeps all the catchy parts in all the right places.  And though I previously reviewed the “Nightage” pre-release single, I can’t ignore it here.  “Nightage” is maybe the most developed or fully realized songwriting on 9th & Walnut.  It comes armed with a great guitar riff, some wonderful burbling bass, and a desperate shade that leaves the song falling all over itself.  Plus, the vocal hooks are outta this world as resonating lines go by like “I’ll never make it through the night” and “she is playing with my heart”.  As I said back then, this stuff is destroying my brain.

9th & Walnut is going to end up amongst my favorite albums of the year.  I’ve been listening to it like mad since it dropped and it’s showing no signs of wearing thin a couple of weeks in.  Sure, it’s a nice time capsule.  But more importantly, it’s a fantastically fun record loaded with the songs and the vitality I’m looking for.    

Favorite song: “Nightage”, maybe

Favorite moment: When Milo’s vocals come in on “I Need Some”, they hit the just-right tone

Favorite whatever else: So above I put “Nightage”, maybe as my favorite song; but a bunch of others can be on any particular listen.  Some of these “whatever else’s” are “Crepe Suzette”, Mohicans”, “Baby Doncha Know”, and “I Need Some”