I started listening to Descendents in 2009. This was circa 16 years after I had first bought one of their records and subsequently decided that I didn't like them. A couple of months back I watched the Descendents movie/documentary 'Filmage: The Story Of Descendents/ALL', and they had interviews with the vocalists of their alter ego band, ALL. Well, one of these dudes seemed both puzzled and disappointed as to how ALL had never been as popular as Descendents. I remember him saying 'it's the same band', and it made me feel bad that I had not given ALL another chance after also dismissing them as a band I didn't like circa 1993. So I downloaded one of their albums and gave it a go. And it clicked pretty quickly. So I then downloaded a couple more. When I realised that I now definitely liked ALL, I also knew it would mean that I would want to start looking for their records. A couple of weeks ago I bought three from a UK seller on eBay, which felt like a good start.
The first LP, 'Allroy Sez.....' features Dave Smalley on vocals. This was the first band he did after leaving Dag Nasty.
The 'Allroy For Prez' 12" was the follow up to the first LP. Dave Smalley was still on vocals. This is a six song EP, not a full length.
Smalley left after this 12" due to the band's relentless tour schedule. He was replaced by Scott Reynolds, who stayed with the band for three albums. The third of these was 'Percolater' which came out in 1992, and which was the first LP to not feature the band's mascot, Allroy, on the cover.
So that's a start to an ALL collection. I do intend to pick up more of their LPs, and hopefully it shouldn't be too difficult or expensive as there aren't really any colour vinyl or limited pressings of any of them. I'm hoping to bag them by the end of the year, so expect to see more ALL records in the next few months.
7 comments:
Pummel may set ya back some cash. Its OOP and can be hard to find.
Yeah, I saw one sell recently and was surprised about how much it went for. That'll definitely be the last one for me to pick up I'm sure.
Very cool post, I have the same thing with other bands, first they didn't gel and ten years later, I finally understand and appreciate the music.
Good luck with the hunt. Tracking down a band with a decent back catalog is always fun, unless they have this one shitty record that is super rare and thus super expensive. But you know you want to have that one too. I hate that even more than colored vinyl represses.
The whole ALL thing is hard for me to get my head around.
There are ALL songs that are as good or better than Descendents songs, but it's just songs. Album after album, there is more bad than good and in some cases god awful.
Case in point, your new Percolater album, I love Nothin', Dot, Nobody's, Wonder and Minute. Cool songs. The rest is just so awful I can't listen to any of it!
Doug, it would probably have been quicker to say that you like Side 1 rather than type out all those song titles :o)
I actually really like two of the songs on side 2. In fact, 'Egg Timer' is one of my favourite ALL songs. I guess overall it feels like there's a mix of songs and styles, but I quite like it. So far there's not an album I don't like. Sure, there's are one or two songs on each that are a bit weird or just don't seem to fit, but overall there are still a LOT of good songs.
You should hit up Allroy's Revenge next. Cheap as chips and contains two of their best songs, She's My Ex and Mary.
I am so glad I have a copy of Pummel. I had no idea what it goes for now. Crazy.
Hey, I´m big fan of ALL and I also recommend you to find Allroys Revenge record as soon as possible because it´s their best album. Also, try to find She´s My Ex/Crazy EP & Dot EP, at least download it, because those EPs have some of the best ALL songs. Also, you should know that the first few ALL albums have bonus tracks on CD versions. Good luck with the hunt.
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