The Descendents
““Cool to be You”
(Fat Wreck Chords)
So, ““Cool to be You”” is the Descendents’’ first full length in eight years, and it sounds pretty good. Relying on their catchy, melodic nature more than their earlier hardcore influenced style, they pound out songs about love and loss with the greatest of ease, but there are several songs that definitely stand out here. On the speedy, ‘“’Merican’,” Aukerman has mixed emotions about the United States, singing “”I’’m proud and ashamed every Fourth of July / You’’ve got to know the truth / before you say that you’’ve got pride.””
They strike a perfect balance between bitterness and sarcasm on the title track: “It must be pretty cool to be you, with a home and a family to go home to.” The best of this album is the pro-education anthem, “Mass Nerder,” it’s got a more old school sound with an awesome chorus: ““Gonna kick their asses in class, gonna get good grades!”
This album is pretty solid. The Descendents show that they’’ve still got what made them so influential in the first place.
