'Merican
Encyclopedia
Merican is an EP
by the punk rock
band the Descendents
, released February 10, 2004. It was the band's first release for Fat Wreck Chords
and served as a pre-release to their sixth studio album Cool to Be You
, released the following month. The EP includes two songs from the album: "Nothing with You" and Merican", and three B-sides
from the album's sessions: "Here with Me", "I Quit", and the hidden track
"Alive". Merican marked the first release of new studio material from the Descendents since 1996's Everything Sucks
and was their third release ever to chart, reaching #29 on Billboard
's Top Independent Albums chart and #38 on Top Heatseekers
.
had left the band to pursue a career in biochemistry
. The remaining members—bassist Karl Alvarez
, guitarist Stephen Egerton, and drummer Bill Stevenson—changed the band's name to All
and released eight albums on Cruz Records and Interscope Records
between 1988 and 1995 with singers Dave Smalley
, Scott Reynolds, and Chad 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 to Epitaph Records
and the Descendents released Everything 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 album Mass Nerder
. All also released Problematic
in 2000 and Live Plus One
in 2001, a double live album that included a Descendents disc recorded in 1996.
The recording sessions for the Descendents' sixth studio album Cool to Be You
took place with Aukerman in February 2002 at The Blasting Room in Fort Collins, Colorado
, with additional recording done in April at Planet of Sound in Wilmington, Delaware
, and were produced
by Stevenson. The band recorded the music for the songs live in the studio with very minimal overdubbing
, and Aukerman's vocals were recorded over the instrumental tracks. However, these recordings were not released for another two years. Stevenson explained that the gap of eight years between Descendents albums was due the band members having children and his father's death.
' Merican and Cool to Be You the Descendents signed to Fat Wreck Chords
. Label head and musician Fat Mike was a longtime fan of the band, and his enthusism for working with them was a major factor in their decision to sign to the label. 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." The' Merican EP was released in February 2004, followed by the full-length album in March. Stevenson remarked that the EP served as a teaser for Cool to Be You: "It's funny because, from the old Descendents fan's point of view, it's kind of like 'What? Why did they put out this EP? It doesn't even have the best songs on it. I waited seven years for this?' But from the newer kids perspective, it's more like, hey let's try to introduce this new decade of kids to Descendents so it's at least on the tip of their tongue when the album comes out." ' Merican was released on both compact disc
and extended play
formats, each with a different cover, drawn by Jeff Hagedorn, depicting the band's Milo caricature
dressed as Uncle Sam
.
' Merican address topics including love and relationships, sociopolitical commentary, and frustrations with life in a touring band. Aukerman remarked that "there's no part of the ' Merican EP that is a retread of anything we've done in the past. Some of the songs are major departures for us, like 'Here with Me,' and the hidden track 'Alive.' Even the title song is actually a stretch for us; if you look back on all the songs we have done, there are very few that have any 'political' content in them." Merican" addresses positive and negative aspects of American history
, celebrating cultural figures such as Otis Redding
, Duke Ellington
, and Walt Whitman
while condemning slavery, Joseph McCarthy
, the Ku Klux Klan
, and the Vietnam War
.
"I Quit" was written by Aukerman about the frustrations of being in a band and on the road, with lyrics such as "Sick all the time, I miss my wife / I quit / Got better things to do with my life / I quit". Aukerman explained of the song:
' Merican became the third Descendents release to chart (following Everything Sucks
and Live Plus One
), reaching #29 on Billboard
's Top Independent Albums chart and #38 on Top Heatseekers
. John Luerssen of Allmusic gave it three and a half stars out of five, remarking that "Nothing with You" "revisit[s] the timeless lovelorn attack of cherished songs from their past like 'Wendy,' 'Clean Sheets,' and 'Silly Girl, while Merican" "harks back to vintage Bad Religion
" and "I Quit" is "a nervous, edgy 'Catalina'-like throwback". He was less complementary about the other two songs, calling "Here with Me" merely a "palatable midtempo number" and "Alive" "worth skipping, as it drags in a way that no Descendents number has a right to."
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
by the punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
band the Descendents
Descendents
The Descendents are an American punk rock band from Hermosa Beach, California. As of 2011, they have released six studio albums, three live albums, three compilation albums and three EPs. The Descendents broke up and reformed several times over the years, sometimes with different musicians...
, released February 10, 2004. It was the band's first release for Fat Wreck Chords
Fat Wreck Chords
Fat Wreck Chords is a San Francisco, California based independent record label, focused on punk rock. It was started by Fat Mike and his ex-wife, Erin, in 1990....
and served as a pre-release to their sixth studio album Cool to Be You
Cool to Be You
Cool to Be You is the sixth studio album by the punk rock band the Descendents, released in 2004 through Fat Wreck Chords. It was their first album of new studio material since 1996's Everything Sucks, which had been released through Epitaph Records...
, released the following month. The EP includes two songs from the album: "Nothing with You" and Merican", and three B-sides
A-side and B-side
A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...
from the album's sessions: "Here with Me", "I Quit", and the hidden track
Hidden track
In the field of recorded music, a hidden track is a piece of music that has been placed on a CD, audio cassette, vinyl record or other recorded medium in such a way as to avoid detection by the casual listener...
"Alive". Merican marked the first release of new studio material from the Descendents since 1996's Everything Sucks
Everything Sucks (Descendents album)
Everything Sucks is the fifth studio album by the punk rock band the Descendents, released in 1996 through Epitaph Records. It was their first album of new studio material since 1987's All, after which singer Milo Aukerman had left the band to pursue a career in biochemistry...
and was their third release ever to chart, reaching #29 on Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
's Top Independent Albums chart and #38 on Top Heatseekers
Top Heatseekers
Top Heatseekers refers to either of two separate "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by Billboard Magazine: the Heatseekers Albums chart or the Heatseekers Songs chart. They were introduced by Billboard in 1993 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by new and developing musical...
.
Background and recording
In 1987 Descendents singer Milo AukermanMilo Aukerman
Milo Aukerman is an American singer, songwriter and research biochemist. Aukerman is perhaps most widely known for being the lead singer of the early Los Angeles area punk rock band the Descendents, a group widely considered to be pioneers of modern "pop punk"...
had left the band to pursue a career in biochemistry
Biochemistry
Biochemistry, sometimes called biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes in living organisms, including, but not limited to, living matter. Biochemistry governs all living organisms and living processes...
. The remaining members—bassist Karl Alvarez
Karl Alvarez
Karl Matthew Alvarez is the bass guitar player for both the Descendents and All, the band that resulted after the Descendents disbanded again in 1987....
, guitarist Stephen Egerton, and drummer Bill Stevenson—changed the band's name to All
ALL (band)
All is an American punk band originally from Los Angeles, currently residing in Fort Collins, Colorado, formed by Descendents members Bill Stevenson, Karl Alvarez, and Stephen Egerton.-Formation and Cruz Records Years:...
and released eight albums on Cruz Records and Interscope Records
Interscope Records
Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that currently operates as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.-History:...
between 1988 and 1995 with singers Dave Smalley
Dave Smalley
Not to be confused with Dave Smalley Dave Smalley is an American musician, best known as the punk bands DYS, Dag Nasty, All and singer/guitarist with Down By Law. He is known for his influence on pop punk music and his early contributions to the emo genre...
, Scott Reynolds, and Chad Price
Chad Price
Chad Price is best known for being the lead singer for the pop-punk band All and alt-country band Drag the River.He joined ALL in 1993 as the band's third singer, after Dave Smalley and Scott Reynolds. He has appeared on the four most recent studio albums, as well as one live album...
. 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 to Epitaph Records
Epitaph Records
Epitaph Records is a Hollywood, California based independent record label owned by Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz. The label was originally "just a logo and a P.O. box" created in the 1980s for the purpose of selling Bad Religion records, but has evolved into a large independent record...
and the Descendents released Everything Sucks
Everything Sucks (Descendents album)
Everything Sucks is the fifth studio album by the punk rock band the Descendents, released in 1996 through Epitaph Records. It was their first album of new studio material since 1987's All, after which singer Milo Aukerman had left the band to pursue a career in biochemistry...
in 1996. Following the album's supporting tours Aukerman had returned to his science career, though he recorded backing vocals for All's 1998 album Mass Nerder
Mass Nerder
Mass Nerder is the seventh album by pop punk band All. It was released on Epitaph Records in 1998.The Descendents later recorded a song called "Mass Nerder" for their 2004 album Cool to Be You. "Honey Peeps" appeared in the 1999 Sony PlayStation game Street Sk8er and the 1999 Vans Off The Wall...
. All also released Problematic
Problematic (album)
Problematic is the eighth studio album by pop punk band All. It was recorded at the band's own recording studio, The Blasting Room in Fort Collins, Colorado, and released on Epitaph Records in 2000. As of today, this is the band's most recent studio album released under the All name.Problematic was...
in 2000 and Live Plus One
Live Plus One
Live Plus One is a live album by the punk rock bands All and the Descendents, released in 2001 through Epitaph Records. A double album, it includes one disc by All recorded March 30 and 31 at the Starlight in Fort Collins, Colorado, and a second disc by the Descendents recorded October 10–14, 1996...
in 2001, a double live album that included a Descendents disc recorded in 1996.
The recording sessions for the Descendents' sixth studio album Cool to Be You
Cool to Be You
Cool to Be You is the sixth studio album by the punk rock band the Descendents, released in 2004 through Fat Wreck Chords. It was their first album of new studio material since 1996's Everything Sucks, which had been released through Epitaph Records...
took place with Aukerman in February 2002 at The Blasting Room in Fort Collins, Colorado
Fort Collins, Colorado
Fort Collins is a Home Rule Municipality situated on the Cache La Poudre River along the Colorado Front Range, and is the county seat and most populous city of Larimer County, Colorado, United States. Fort Collins is located north of the Colorado State Capitol in Denver. With a 2010 census...
, with additional recording done in April at Planet of Sound in Wilmington, Delaware
Wilmington, Delaware
Wilmington is the largest city in the state of Delaware, United States, and is located at the confluence of the Christina River and Brandywine Creek, near where the Christina flows into the Delaware River. It is the county seat of New Castle County and one of the major cities in the Delaware Valley...
, and were produced
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
by Stevenson. The band recorded the music for the songs live in the studio with very minimal overdubbing
Overdubbing
Overdubbing is a technique used by recording studios to add a supplementary recorded sound to a previously recorded performance....
, and Aukerman's vocals were recorded over the instrumental tracks. However, these recordings were not released for another two years. Stevenson explained that the gap of eight years between Descendents albums was due the band members having children and his father's death.
Release
For the releases ofFat Wreck Chords
Fat Wreck Chords is a San Francisco, California based independent record label, focused on punk rock. It was started by Fat Mike and his ex-wife, Erin, in 1990....
. Label head and musician Fat Mike was a longtime fan of the band, and his enthusism for working with them was a major factor in their decision to sign to the label. 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." The
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
and extended play
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
formats, each with a different cover, drawn by Jeff Hagedorn, depicting the band's Milo caricature
Caricature
A caricature is a portrait that exaggerates or distorts the essence of a person or thing to create an easily identifiable visual likeness. In literature, a caricature is a description of a person using exaggeration of some characteristics and oversimplification of others.Caricatures can be...
dressed as Uncle Sam
Uncle Sam
Uncle Sam is a common national personification of the American government originally used during the War of 1812. He is depicted as a stern elderly man with white hair and a goatee beard...
.
Themes
The songs onHistory of the United States
The history of the United States traditionally starts with the Declaration of Independence in the year 1776, although its territory was inhabited by Native Americans since prehistoric times and then by European colonists who followed the voyages of Christopher Columbus starting in 1492. The...
, celebrating cultural figures such as Otis Redding
Otis Redding
Otis Ray Redding, Jr. was an American soul singer-songwriter, record producer, arranger and talent scout. He is considered one of the major figures in soul and R&B...
, Duke Ellington
Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...
, and Walt Whitman
Walt Whitman
Walter "Walt" Whitman was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among the most influential poets in the American canon, often called the father of free verse...
while condemning slavery, Joseph McCarthy
Joseph McCarthy
Joseph Raymond "Joe" McCarthy was an American politician who served as a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957...
, the Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...
, and the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
.
"I Quit" was written by Aukerman about the frustrations of being in a band and on the road, with lyrics such as "Sick all the time, I miss my wife / I quit / Got better things to do with my life / I quit". Aukerman explained of the song:
I can't even count the number of times I've quit this band, dating back to 1982 and Milo Goes to CollegeMilo Goes to CollegeMilo Goes to College is the debut album by the Manhattan Beach, California-based punk rock band the Descendents, released in 1982 through New Alliance Records...
! Like most of my songs, "I Quit" is my attempt to capture those emotions that come and go, the transient ones. Those types of emotions, to me, make for the best songs because they tend to be extreme! So there is no "message" to the song, just me spewing about the negative aspects of band life. At the time I wrote the song, I really did want to quit. I don't really care how people take the song; as the line says, "I don't give a flying fuck what you think of me."
Reception
Everything Sucks (Descendents album)
Everything Sucks is the fifth studio album by the punk rock band the Descendents, released in 1996 through Epitaph Records. It was their first album of new studio material since 1987's All, after which singer Milo Aukerman had left the band to pursue a career in biochemistry...
and Live Plus One
Live Plus One
Live Plus One is a live album by the punk rock bands All and the Descendents, released in 2001 through Epitaph Records. A double album, it includes one disc by All recorded March 30 and 31 at the Starlight in Fort Collins, Colorado, and a second disc by the Descendents recorded October 10–14, 1996...
), reaching #29 on Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
's Top Independent Albums chart and #38 on Top Heatseekers
Top Heatseekers
Top Heatseekers refers to either of two separate "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by Billboard Magazine: the Heatseekers Albums chart or the Heatseekers Songs chart. They were introduced by Billboard in 1993 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by new and developing musical...
. John Luerssen of Allmusic gave it three and a half stars out of five, remarking that "Nothing with You" "revisit[s] the timeless lovelorn attack of cherished songs from their past like 'Wendy,' 'Clean Sheets,' and 'Silly Girl, while Merican" "harks back to vintage Bad Religion
Bad Religion
Bad Religion is a punk rock band that formed in Los Angeles in 1979. Their current line-up consists of Greg Graffin , Brett Gurewitz , Jay Bentley , Greg Hetson , Brian Baker and Brooks Wackerman . Gurewitz is also the founder of the label Epitaph Records, which has released almost all of the...
" and "I Quit" is "a nervous, edgy 'Catalina'-like throwback". He was less complementary about the other two songs, calling "Here with Me" merely a "palatable midtempo number" and "Alive" "worth skipping, as it drags in a way that no Descendents number has a right to."
CD version
EP version
Band
- Karl AlvarezKarl AlvarezKarl Matthew Alvarez is the bass guitar player for both the Descendents and All, the band that resulted after the Descendents disbanded again in 1987....
– bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick.... - Milo AukermanMilo AukermanMilo Aukerman is an American singer, songwriter and research biochemist. Aukerman is perhaps most widely known for being the lead singer of the early Los Angeles area punk rock band the Descendents, a group widely considered to be pioneers of modern "pop punk"...
– vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments... - Stephen Egerton – guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, recording engineer - Bill Stevenson – drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, producerRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
, recording engineer, mix engineerMix engineerA mix engineer, also referred to as "mixing engineer", is a person who, once all instruments, voices, and sounds, etc., have been recorded, creates what is called the final version of a song, hence the term "mix engineer"...
, masteringAudio masteringMastering, a form of audio post-production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device ; the source from which all copies will be produced...
Production
- Jason Livermore – recording engineer, mix engineer, mastering]
- Andrew Berlin and Brad Newsom – additional engineering
- Jeff Hagedorn – cover illustration, design, and layout
- Jesse Fischer – photography
External links
' Merican at Fat Wreck ChordsFat Wreck ChordsFat Wreck Chords is a San Francisco, California based independent record label, focused on punk rock. It was started by Fat Mike and his ex-wife, Erin, in 1990....