You would almost need a flow chart to follow the many permutations of the Descendents, the seminal California act that popularized pop-punk a decade before Green Day even performed its first show.
The band seemed to switch members with every album, save vocalist Milo Aukerman and drummer Bill Stevenson. Then, when Aukerman left in 1987 to pursue a doctorate degree in biochemistry, the group changed to All, an act with a similar musical approach but which seemed to switch vocalists with every album.Not content to leave things in that confusing state, the Descendents regrouped this year with Aukerman, releasing its first studio album, "Everything Sucks," in 10 years. But according to Stevenson, the most current version of All, which includes vocalist Chad Price, is still a viable musical unit.
"We've mutated again. This time, we've cell-divided into a fierce, two-headed musical beast," Stevenson said in a telephone interview from his Colorado Springs home. "Now there's more of us to menace America."
"All" kidding aside, he said that the door was always left open for Aukerman to return and revive the Descendents.
"He's always stayed in touch with us and been kind of All's fifth wheel. It just turns out that he's not completely satisfied with his science thing and wanted to come back to music," Stevenson said. "Still, we didn't want to push Chad out on his ear. This kind of seemed like the best of both worlds, so to speak."
The new/old Descendents will be one of 13 musical acts performing in the X-96 BASH on Saturday, Oct. 5, at the Utah State Fairpark.
"Everything Sucks" picks up not where the last All album, "Pummel," left off, but where the last Descendents studio album, confusingly titled "All," left off.
In addition to the snotty title track, the new CD features caffeine-soaked blasts of pop ("Coffee Mug"), politically incorrect punk thrash ("Eunuch Boy") and "When I Get Old," a wistful song that serves as the companion piece to an earlier Descendents song, "I Don't Want to Grow Up."
Expectations for the album and a succeeding tour are high, especially with the legendary air the band has taken on during its nearly 10-year hiatus.
"When we left off, we were playing in basements in front of 200 people. Now, we're playing to 2,000 people," Stevenson said. "I keep telling Milo, `Look, we've turned into Van Halen.' It's so completely weird."
The BASH, which starts at 11 a.m., will include two stages of musical entertainment. Others performing include, in order, Tuscadero, Sense Field, Apples in Stereo, the Joykiller, Velocity Girl, Reacharound, Clover, Nada Surf, Grav-ity Kills, Korn and Beck. Colin Hay, former singer for Men At Work, will perform short acoustic sets in between acts.
Tickets for the concert, a presentation of KXRK-FM and United Concerts, have been sold out for a week. However, at presstime, it was possible that the station might make an additional 1,000 tickets available for $15 when the gates open at 10 a.m.