A Lesson in Coolidge: What Emerging Artists Can Learn From Descendents’ Realness

Photo by LAILA FREEMAN

In a media landscape where men are competing to be the most “alpha,” the members of Descendents are self-proclaimed betas–something they want you to know.

Most mainstream artists are still embodying the same manufactured moxie with different packaging: in-your-face attitude, toxic confessions, and superiority complexes.

There’s pressure in the music industry to have a brandable image and confidence. Many performers take on personas, making themselves actors in their own right, and then there’s Descendents.

Frontman Milo Aukerman still sings the same punk songs from the ‘70s and ’80s about being uncool,  making Descendents the coolest. The age of AI brings a unique desire for authenticity, so emerging artists should take a page out of Descendents’ manifesto, aka their gem-filled discography.

I recently saw the band perform for the second time at the House of Blues in Anaheim, and it was the most intergenerational show I’ve been to, with attendees ranging from Boomers to Generation Alpha. It’s clear that the love for this music was passed down in many households, including my own. At one point during the show, I was singing “My Dad Sucks” with my own dad, who had bought us tickets.

My brothers and I joked about being outpunked by the youngins who came in battle jackets and mohawks and were pitting with the rest of us. It seemed like everyone got the memo that attending the show was a family outing. Even the frontman, Aukerman, proudly told the audience he had visited his 96-year-old mother that day before the performance, to much applause. 

The band formed in 1977 and is still touring and performing for dedicated fans. Besides Aukerman’s insane calf muscles, I attribute the band’s longevity to how they timelessly captured their experiences as adolescents and young adults. 

The Descendents are proud yearners as seen in songs like “Silly Girl,” “Marriage,” and “Good Good Things.” If they dropped those songs today, they’d surely be coined as simps. When love didn’t go as planned, they gave us great breakup songs, admitting they really loved that girl like in “Hope,” “Clean Sheets,” and “Wendy.”

While their discography is packed full of gems, “Coolidge” is one of–if not their best–songs:

I'm not a cool guy anymore, as if I ever was before

I took a look at all the signs, then rolled it over in my mind

The feelings I could not release

Became a bitter part of me

What was I thinking of?

It couldn't stay the way it was

Looked at my reflection and I saw a stranger's face

I saw where I was going and I had to walk away

I lost a girl, it's just as well, she tried to save me from myself

I've still got her on my mind, tossing and turning in my bed

But if she had stayed another week

I would have dragged her down with me

She took it 'til she had enough

Was that what I thought love was?

I told her "see you later" but it's hard to see at all

At the bottom of the barrel with your back against the wall

It’s honest, elevated, and takes full accountability, which are qualities more contemporary music sometimes lacks. The lyric “I looked up one day and saw that it was up to me / You can only be a victim if you admit defeat” is something I ponder often and share with others. Aukerman doesn’t just sing, he gives his fans mantras to live out the DIY attitude.

While Descendents capture the complexity of relationships adds to their coolidge, they can cleverly sing about anything, and we’ll listen: disturbia like in their classic tune, “Suburban Home,” but also the conflicting feelings of being American (“‘Merican”), and even how much they enjoy coffee in 35 seconds (“Coffee Mug”). Their discography makes it clear that the band only makes music when they have something to say, a stark contrast to much of today's music.

Aukerman is also a total nerd, singing about getting good grades, getting beaten up in school, and not identifying with that tough-guy look in “Mass Nerder.” He has a PhD, still wears glasses, and, like the rest of the band, performs in jeans, tattered shorts, and graphic tees. 

Every genre of music brings its own set of aesthetics, whether it’s a pop star’s jumpsuit made entirely of sequence, or a black metal artist’s black and white face paint, but there’s nothing flashy about Descendents. There’s no elaborate stage design or bright costumes. It’s evident that fans flock to their shows for the music and the band’s high energy, and the fans just bring their good time with them.

Aukerman said it best in “Mass Nerder”:

Don't got no stylish notion

Don't wanna live by the ocean

Just wanna be myself

All you posers go to hell

If you’re an artist and feel pressure to embody an image that feels far from who you are, as the saying goes, “write what you know.” Maybe you’re an average Joe? Get on the mic and tell us. Descendents have always been honest about who they are and their insecurities, which makes them powerful, which makes them punk — though maybe still just “square[s] goin’ nowhere.”