10 Forgotten Punk Albums You Need To Redisover
4. ALL - Mass Nerder
ALL comprises three members of the Descendents, and that’s something you could most likely ascertain from hearing three bars of their music. While the legendary pop punk forefathers were either on hiatus or releasing increasingly questionable stuff, ALL took the ball and ran with it.
It’s no frills pop punk with an emphasis on the punk, and 1998’s Mass Nerder sees the band at the peak of their powers. Few of the songs scratch the two minute mark, and the themes are those we expect from the genre - it’s aural comfort food for a certain generation.
The sound has evolved from the Descendents’ heyday, though, with “Fairweather Friend” taking the more prominent melodic bass work of the ‘90s to elevate the sound and the likes of “Think The World” a harmonically rich track that stuffs a great deal of ideas into 80 seconds.
To call it “mature” would be to overlook the fact that this is, ultimately, a pop punk record, but it’s evident that these are grown adults releasing the music they want to hear, not pandering to the kids, and in the late ‘90s era of sophomoric punk, that’s refreshing.