Descendents

The Descendents are also known as “the fathers of pop punk.” No, really – this isn’t an overstatement. Spend ten minutes scanning FM or the idiot box and you’re bound to witness a ditty or video that tips its hat to a musical genre that was refined to a high art — if not created outright — by the ‘Dents. Formed in 1978 against the fertile musical backdrop of Los Angeles’ South Bay scene (see: Black Flag, Minutemen, SST Records, etc.), the caffeine-addled crew released their first 7″ single “Ride The Wild” as a trio in 1979. Not long after, the boys recruited one Milo Aukerman (microbiology Ph.D. in waiting and poster boy for adolescent ne’er-do-well alienation) for vocal duties.