| Cool to Be You | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 The album cover, illustrated by Chris Shary, depicts the band'sMilo character drawn ongraph paper. | ||||
| Studio album by theDescendents | ||||
| Released | March 23, 2004 (2004-03-23) | |||
| Recorded | February and April 2002 | |||
| Studio | The Blasting Room,Fort Collins, Colorado; Planet of Sound,Wilmington, Delaware | |||
| Genre | Hardcore punk[1] | |||
| Length | 36:26 | |||
| Label | Fat Wreck Chords (FAT-672) | |||
| Producer | Bill Stevenson | |||
| Descendents chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Singles from Everything Sucks | ||||
| ||||
Cool to Be You is the sixth studio album by the Americanpunk rock band theDescendents, released on March 23, 2004, throughFat Wreck Chords. It was their first album of new studio material since 1996'sEverything Sucks, which had been released throughEpitaph Records. FollowingEverything Sucks, singerMilo Aukerman had returned to hisbiochemistry career while the other members—bassistKarl Alvarez, guitaristStephen Egerton, and drummerBill Stevenson—had continued with their other bandAll, releasing two more studio albums and a live album through Epitaph between 1998 and 2001 with singerChad Price.Cool to Be You was recorded with Aukerman in 2002, but its release was delayed until 2004. The band switched from Epitaph to Fat Wreck Chords partly due to the enthusiasm of label headFat Mike, who cited the Descendents as one of his favorite bands.Cool to Be You became the fourth Descendents release to chart, reaching No. 143 on theBillboard 200 and No. 6 amongst independent albums.
In 1987 Descendents singerMilo Aukerman had left the band to pursue a career inbiochemistry. The remaining members—bassistKarl Alvarez, guitaristStephen Egerton, and drummerBill Stevenson—changed the band's name toAll and released eight albums onCruz Records andInterscope Records between 1988 and 1995 with singersDave Smalley,Scott Reynolds, andChad Price. Aukerman contributed occasional songwriting and backing vocals, and in 1995 decided to return to music. The members decided to operate as two bands, working with Aukerman as the Descendents and with Price as All. Both bands signed toEpitaph Records and the Descendents releasedEverything Sucks in 1996. Following the album's supporting tours Aukerman had returned to his science career, though he recorded backing vocals for All's 1998 albumMass Nerder. All also releasedProblematic in 2000 andLive Plus One in 2001, a double live album that included a Descendents disc recorded in 1996.
The recording sessions forCool to Be You took place with Aukerman in February 2002 atThe Blasting Room inFort Collins, Colorado, with additional recording done in April at Planet of Sound inWilmington, Delaware, and wereproduced by Stevenson.[2] The band recorded the music for the songs live in the studio with minimaloverdubbing, and Aukerman's vocals were recorded over the instrumental tracks.[3] However, these recordings were not released for another two years. Stevenson explained that the gap of eight years between Descendents albums was due to the band members having children and to his father's death.[3]
For the release ofCool to Be You the Descendents signed toFat Wreck Chords. Label head and musicianFat Mike was a longtime fan of the band, and his enthusiasm for working with them was a major factor in their decision to sign to the label.[3] Stevenson commented that "If you've got the owner of the label saying he wants to put out a record by what is probably his favorite band of all time, that's rad. That's the best possible position for a band to be in."[3] The album was preceded by the'MericanEP, released February 10, 2004 and featuring the tracks "Nothing with You" and"'Merican" from the album as well as threeB-sides from the album's sessions: "Here with Me", "I Quit", and "Alive". "Nothing with You" was released to radio the same day.[4]Cool to Be You followed on March 23 and was released in bothCD andLP formats, with a cover illustration drawn by Chris Shary depicting the band'sMilo character drawn ongraph paper.[5]
The songs onCool to Be You address topics including love and relationships, sociopolitical commentary, the death of parents,nerdiness, andflatulence.[3][1]"'Merican" addresses positive and negative aspects ofAmerican history, celebrating cultural figures such asOtis Redding,Duke Ellington, andWalt Whitman while condemningslavery,Joseph McCarthy, theKu Klux Klan, and theVietnam War.[6][7] Stevenson wrote "One More Day" about the death of his father, who he had taken in and cared for throughout the last year of his life: "He and I always had a terrible relationship. We spent a good part of my adult life being somewhat estranged from each other. He became ill and I took care of him for a little while. And then he died. That song is just about his and my relationship. Just to get that out of me and not holding it inside anymore, is a huge relief for me [...] Every single time I hear that song, it just freaks me out. I've never, ever written a song that's freaked me out that much."[3]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   |
| IGN | 8/10[8] |
| Kerrang! | [9] |
| Ox-Fanzine | 10/10[10] |
| Pitchfork | 7.1/10[11] |
| Punknews.org |  [1] |
| Rolling Stone | [12] |
| Spin | A−[13] |
Cool to Be You became the fourth Descendents release to chart, reaching No. 143 on theBillboard 200 and No. 6 amongst independent albums.[14][15][16] Al Campbell ofAllmusic rated it four stars out of five, commenting that "Like theRamones before them, the Descendents' overall sound tends to be interchangeable, in the best possible way, with previous efforts. Why mess with a good thing? For instance, among these 14 tracks, 'Nothing with You' can be compared to 'Clean Sheets,' while 'Cool to Be You' and 'Mass Nerder' are anthems à la 'I'm Not a Loser' and 'I Don't Want to Grow Up.'"[7] Aubin Paul of Punknews.org gave the album four and a half stars out of five, complimenting the band's ability to work in more mature subject matter while still maintaining the childish and self-deprecating humor that "is almost impossible to find anything but endearing and sympathetic."[1] He particularly praised the band's musical abilities and Stevenson's production skills, saying that "Musically, the band hasn't changed drastically since 1982'sMilo Goes to College; they're still focused on somewhat unorthodox melodies, anchored by an incredibly tight rhythm section and some guitar pyrotechnics. The band is clearly tighter and more comfortable with strong melodies, but with the exception of the omission of sub-30 second goof offs like 'Coffee Mug' and 'Weinerschnitzel', there is little that will alienate old fans. The production, by way of Stevenson (who has been producing one excellent sounding record after another at his Blasting Room studio) is the best yet, with every instrument clear and not one dominating. The common description of 'pop-hardcore' is still undisputed."[1]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Talking" | Milo Aukerman | 2:27 |
| 2. | "Nothing with You" | Aukerman | 2:29 |
| 3. | "She Don't Care" | Karl Alvarez | 1:51 |
| 4. | "'Merican" | Alvarez | 1:51 |
| 5. | "Dog and Pony Show" | Alvarez | 2:28 |
| 6. | "Blast Off" | Aukerman | 2:27 |
| 7. | "Dreams" | Aukerman | 2:56 |
| 8. | "Cool to Be You" | Alvarez | 2:24 |
| 9. | "Maddie" | Bill Stevenson | 3:06 |
| 10. | "Mass Nerder" | Aukerman | 2:47 |
| 11. | "One More Day" | Stevenson | 3:33 |
| 12. | "Tack" | Aukerman | 2:21 |
| 13. | "Anchor Grill" | Stevenson | 3:03 |
| 14. | "Dry Spell" | Aukerman | 2:43 |
| Total length: | 36:26 | ||
|
|
{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)