Somery

Somery is a compilation album by the American punk rock band the Descendents, released in 1991 through SST Records. It compiles songs from their Fat EP (1981) and the albums Milo Goes to College (1982), I Don't Want to Grow Up (1985), Enjoy! (1986), and All (1987).

Somery
Compilation album by
the Descendents
ReleasedJuly 16, 1991 (1991-07-16)
Recorded
  • March 1981
  • June 1982
  • April 1985
  • January 1987
Studio
Genre
Length53:12
LabelSST (259)
ProducerSpot, David Tarling, Bill Stevenson
Descendents chronology
Hallraker: Live!
(1989)		 Somery
(1991)		 Everything Sucks
(1996)

Background

In 1987 SST Records had purchased the Descendents' previous label New Alliance Records, releasing their 1987 album All and re-releasing all of their previous material.[3] Following the Descendents' final tours in spring and summer 1987, singer Milo Aukerman had left the band to pursue a career in biochemistry.[4][5] The remaining members—bassist Karl Alvarez, guitarist Stephen Egerton, and drummer Bill Stevenson—relaunched the band under the name All, releasing three albums on the SST subsidiary Cruz Records between 1988 and 1991 with singers Dave Smalley and Scott Reynolds.[5] SST also released the Descendents live albums Liveage! (1987) and Hallraker: Live! (1989), both recorded during the final two Descendents tours.[5] Somery was released in 1991, compiling tracks from the Descendents' past studio releases. Stevenson created the cover art for the compilation while Egerton did the graphics.[6] The Descendents would later reunite with Aukerman in 1995 to record Everything Sucks.

Stevenson remarked in 1993 that "Somery sold more than any of the Descendents albums put together. All the kids are just now getting into it, so that way they can buy one record and kind of get into it and see what it's all about, and then if they really like it they can buy all the other records. See, back when we were touring, nobody came to see us. It's only now [that] the Descendents have become popular."[7]

Reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Tom Hull – on the WebB+ ((3-star Honorable Mention)(3-star Honorable Mention)(3-star Honorable Mention))[8]

Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic gave Somery four and a half stars out of five, saying that although "a handful of great songs from their best albums are missing, Somery nevertheless selects the highlights from their occasionally uneven records, making it a useful and comprehensive retrospective."[9][10] Erlewine's colleague Mike DaRonco called it a felony that "Pep Talk" from All was not included on the compilation.[11] Rock critic Robert Christgau gave the album an A− rating, opining that the 1988 compilation Two Things at Once contained the band's best material, "But anyone beguiled, enthralled, or smacked between the eyes by how nakedly these guys don't quite understand their class rage and love-hungry sexual anxiety will hear through their bouts of misogyny and sophomoric humor for the 19 more tuneful if less inspired selections from three later and lesser albums, as in the tortured breakup song/metaphor 'Clean Sheets' and the fuckup/square's confession 'Coolidge'."[12] Jenny Eliscu of Rolling Stone called Somery "the only Descendents record to qualify as must-have. It's got virtually all of the winning songs, from the goofy hardcore tunes [...] to the more commercial-sounding rockers".[1]

Track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."All" (from All, 1987)Bill Stevenson, Pat McCuistion0:01
2."My Dad Sucks" (from the Fat EP, 1981)Frank Navetta, Tony Lombardo0:35
3."Suburban Home" (from Milo Goes to College, 1982)Lombardo1:40
4."Silly Girl" (from I Don't Want to Grow Up, 1985)Stevenson2:21
5."Kids" (from Enjoy!, 1986)Stevenson0:44
6."Clean Sheets" (from All, 1987)Stevenson3:12
7."Sour Grapes" (from Enjoy!, 1986)Milo Aukerman, Doug Carrion3:47
8."Weinerschnitzel" (from the Fat EP, 1981)Stevenson, McCuistion0:11
9."Myage" (from Milo Goes to College, 1982)Stevenson2:00
10."Good Good Things" (from I Don't Want to Grow Up, 1985)Stevenson2:19
11."Van" (from All, 1987)Aukerman (lyrics); Karl Alvarez, Stephen Egerton (music)2:59
12."Bikeage" (from Milo Goes to College, 1982)Stevenson2:12
13."Enjoy" (from Enjoy!, 1986)Aukerman, Carrion, Ray Cooper, Stevenson2:10
14."Theme" (from I Don't Want to Grow Up, 1985)Lombardo2:12
15."Coolidge" (from All, 1987)Alvarez2:45
16."I Like Food" (from the Fat EP, 1981)Stevenson0:16
17."I Wanna Be a Bear" (from Milo Goes to College, 1982)Lombardo, Navetta0:41
18."I Don't Want to Grow Up" (from I Don't Want to Grow Up, 1985)Lombardo1:19
19."Cheer" (from Enjoy!, 1986)Stevenson3:01
20."Pervert" (from I Don't Want to Grow Up, 1985)Aukerman (lyrics), Lombardo (music)1:45
21."Hope" (from Milo Goes to College, 1982)Aukerman1:59
22."All-O-Gistics" (from All, 1987)Stevenson, McCuistion (lyrics); Egerton (music)3:00
23."I'm Not a Loser" (from Milo Goes to College, 1982)Navetta1:28
24."Get the Time" (from Enjoy!, 1986)Aukerman3:12
25."Hürtin' Crüe" (from Enjoy!, 1986)Aukerman (music and lyrics); Carrion, Cooper, Stevenson (music)2:34
26."Cameage" (from All, 1987)Stevenson3:03
27."Descendents" (from I Don't Want to Grow Up, 1985)Aukerman, Cooper, Stevenson (lyrics); Lombardo (music and lyrics)1:43
28."No, All!" (from All, 1987)Stevenson, McCuistion0:03
Total length:53:12

Personnel
Band[6]
Production[6]
  • Richard Andrews – engineer of tracks from Enjoy! and All
  • Ethan James – engineer of tracks from Enjoy!
  • Spot – producer and engineer of tracks from the Fat EP and Milo Goes to College
  • David Tarling – producer and engineer of tracks from I Don't Want to Grow Up

References
  1. Eliscu, Jenny (2004). "Descendents Biography". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2008-08-21. Retrieved 2010-02-14.
  2. "Descendents - Somery". Punknews.org. January 16, 2004. Retrieved April 6, 2023.
  3. Chick, Stevie (2009). Spray Paint the Walls: The Story of Black Flag. London: Omnibus Press. p. 363. ISBN 978-1-84772-620-9.
  4. LaCour, Deedle (Director); Riggle, Matt (Director) (2013). Filmage: The Story of Descendents/All (DVD). Manchester: Rogue Elephant Pictures. Event occurs at 38:30.
  5. Stevenson, Bill (1989). Hallraker: Live! (CD liner). Descendents. Lawndale, California: SST Records. SST CD 205.
  6. Somery (CD liner). Descendents. Lawndale, California: SST Records. 1991. SST CD 259.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  7. "All – Interview". allcentral.com. Suburban Voice. 1993. Archived from the original on 2001-07-17. Retrieved 2015-03-10.
  8. Hull, Tom (April 19, 2021). "Music Week". Tom Hull – on the Web. Retrieved April 20, 2021.
  9. Bogdanov, Vladimir; Woodstra, Chris; Erlewine, Stephen Thomas, eds. (2002). All Music Guide to Rock: The Definitive Guide to Rock, Pop, and Soul (3rd ed.). San Francisco: Backbeat Books. p. 303. ISBN 0-87930-653-X. Retrieved 2015-02-27.
  10. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Review: Somery". Allmusic. Retrieved 2010-02-11.
  11. DaRonco, Mike. "Review: All". Allmusic. Retrieved 2010-02-11.
  12. Christgau, Robert. "Review: Descendents – Somery". robertchristgau.com. Consumer Guide. Retrieved 2015-02-09.
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