Descedents' Stephen Egerton

Rig Rundowns

One guitar (with no knobs), one amp, and one pedal is all this punk-rock papa needs to command the stage.

It's pretty astonishing that a sophomoric band of misfits and outcasts have chiseled a 40-plus-year legacy of punk rock, but that's what the improbable Descendents have been doing since 1977. Their brand of snotty, snarling, snarky, succinct songs have endeared them to rock titans like Dave Grohl.

"[They have] this shameless, love-song aesthetic—none of the other bands had the balls to do that," proclaimed Grohl in 2013's documentary Filmage: The Story of Descendents/All. "Everyone was screaming about Reagan or whatever."

Additionally, through their blending of hardcore, drag-strip tempos, and melodious harmonies, they designed a vehicle for the '90s pop-punk explosion—paving the expressway for bands like Green Day and Blink-182 to crash into the mainstream. "They're like the punk-rock Beach Boys," said Blink-182's Mark Hoppus in Filmage.

And don't forget their iconic, line-drawn mascot Milo, patterned after lead singer Milo Aukerman. That nerdy caricature's singular outline comically defines the Descendents' simplicity, humor, subtle brilliance, and everyman appeal. It also reflects the persona of Aukerman, who stated in Filmage, "I have this dichotomy of desires. I wanna rock out. I wanna be a punk-rock guy, but I also have this really strong ambition to be a scientist."

The band's redlining riffer Stephen Egerton welcomed PG down to Birmingham, Alabama's Avondale Brewing Company, where he blasted through his punk-rock-approved, simplistic-yet-seething setup.

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