Editing Descendents (section)

===Early years, ''Fat EP'', ''Milo Goes to College'', and first hiatus (1977–1984)===
In 1977, friends [[Frank Navetta]] and David Nolte began writing songs on [[acoustic guitar]]s with the intention of forming a band.<ref name="FAQ">{{cite web |title=F.A.Q |publisher=Descendent |work=descendentsonline.com |url=http://www.descendentsonline.com/faq/ |access-date=February 3, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100211194903/http://www.descendentsonline.com/faq/ |archive-date=February 11, 2010 |url-status=dead  }}</ref> They initially called themselves "The Itch", until Navetta came up with the name "Descendents".<ref name="FAQ"/> By the end of the year they had failed to attract any more band members, so Nolte left to join [[The Last (band)|the Last]] with his brothers.<ref name="FAQ"/> In late 1978 Navetta, joined by drummer [[Bill Stevenson (musician)|Bill Stevenson]], and with Nolte switching from guitar to bass, revitalized the Descendents project.<ref name="FAQ"/><ref name="Blush">{{cite book |title=American Hardcore: A Tribal History |last=Blush |first=Steven |author-link=Steven Blush |year=2001 |publisher=[[Feral House]] |location=[[Los Angeles]] |isbn=0-922915-71-7 |page=79|title-link=American Hardcore: A Tribal History }}</ref> Nolte sang with the group at several of their early performances alongside Navetta, but by the spring of 1979, The Last were becoming more active and he left the Descendents again, being replaced by bassist [[Tony Lombardo]].<ref name="FAQ"/> The lineup of Navetta, Lombardo, and Stevenson recorded the band's debut single at Media Art studios and released it on their own label, Orca Records, named after Stevenson's fishing boat.<ref name="FAQ"/><ref name="Blush"/><ref name="Blush, p. 310">Blush, p. 310.</ref><ref name="Hallraker">{{cite AV media notes |title=Hallraker: Live! |title-link=Hallraker: Live! |others=Descendents |year=1989 |first=Bill |last=Stevenson |author-link=Bill Stevenson (musician) |type=CD liner |publisher=[[SST Records]] |id=SST CD 205 |location=[[Lawndale, California]]}}</ref> Navetta sang "Ride the Wild" while Lombardo sang "It's a Hectic World". Nolte produced and mixed the session, and his brother Joe turned the lead guitar level up, resulting in the guitar being very loud in the mix.<ref name="FAQ"/>
[[File:RedondoBeachPier02.jpg|thumb|left|[[Redondo Beach, California|Redondo Beach]], where the ''Fat EP'' and ''Milo Goes to College'' were recorded|upright=1.2]]
The band's music at the time was described by Stevenson as a "coffee'd-out blend of rock-surf-pop-punk music [...] The sound consisted basically of Lombardo's hard-driving, melodic bass lines, Navetta's tight guitar riffing, and my 'caffinated' surf beats."<ref name="Hallraker"/> [[Steven Blush]], author of ''[[American Hardcore: A Tribal History]]'', describes the single as "a blend of [[Devo]]-style [[New wave music|new wave]] and [[Dick Dale]]-like [[surf music|surf]]."<ref name="Blush"/> Ned Raggett of [[AllMusic]] describes it as surf-inspired [[power pop]] with a New Wave edge: "Not quite Devo if they grew up on the coast, but there's something to that comparison."<ref name="Raggett2">{{cite web |last=Raggett |first=Ned |title=Review: ''Bonus Fat'' |website=[[AllMusic]] |url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r5538|pure_url=yes}} |access-date=February 3, 2010}}</ref>

After a six-month trial with a female singer, Cecilia Loera, they recruited [[Milo Aukerman]] as their new vocalist after Navetta and Lombardo got tired of singing.<ref name="Blush"/> The addition of Aukerman led the band to write shorter, faster, and more aggressive songs in a [[hardcore punk]] style.<ref name="Blush"/> They later released the [[Fat EP]] in 1982. It was a record which established the band's presence in the southern California hardcore punk movement with its short, fast, aggressive songs.<ref name="Blush"/>
{{Listen
 |filename     = Descendents - Kabuki Girl.ogg
 |title        = "Kabuki Girl" from ''Milo Goes to College'' (1982)
 |description  = The use of melodies and mixing them with [[hardcore punk]] found on ''Milo Goes to College'' was considered very unusual at the time by the punk scene but was considered as a massive influence by [[melodic hardcore]] and [[pop-punk]] bands.<ref name="Blush"/>}}
For the recording of their debut album ''[[Milo Goes to College]]'' in June 1982, the band worked at [[Total Access Recording]] in [[Redondo Beach, California]], with [[Spot (producer)|Spot]], who had also engineered and produced the ''Fat EP''.<ref name="Somery">{{cite AV media notes |title=Somery |title-link=Somery |others=Descendents |year=1991 |type=CD liner |publisher=[[SST Records]] |id=SST CD 259 |location=[[Lawndale, California]]}}</ref> While still short and fast, the songs on ''Milo Goes to College'' were also melodic. Aukerman later reflected: "It's interesting: we started very melodic, then moved to hardcore, but melded the two at a certain point and became [[melodic hardcore]]."<ref name="Blush"/> The album's title and cover illustration referenced Aukerman's departure from the band to study biology at the [[University of California, San Diego]].<ref name="Interviews">{{cite web|title=Interviews |publisher=Descendents |work=descendentsonline.com |url=http://www.descendentsonline.com/archive/interviews/ |access-date=February 3, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100324082952/http://www.descendentsonline.com/archive/interviews/ |archive-date=March 24, 2010  }}</ref> The illustration was done by Jeff Atkinson, based on earlier [[caricature]]s by a high school classmate of Aukerman's named Roger Deuerlein, who had drawn comic strips and posters depicting Aukerman as the class [[nerd]].<ref name="FAQ"/>

A note on the back of the LP read "In dedication to Milo Aukerman from the Descendents", and was signed by the other three members.<ref name="Milo Goes to College">{{cite AV media notes |title=Milo Goes to College |others=Descendents |year=1982 |type=LP liner |publisher=[[New Alliance Records]] |id=NAR-012 |location=[[San Pedro, California]]}}</ref> Aukerman later recalled that the band took his departure in stride:

<blockquote>
When I decided to go to university, the guys in the band were pretty hip on it because they knew how big of a nerd I was. Like, "What else would you expect him to do but to go off and be a geek?" I mean, I've got a [[Ph.D]] in [[biochemistry]] — how uncool is that?<ref name="Blush"/>
</blockquote>

{{Quote box |quote= The band had time off so I spent like two years with Black Flag. I got in over my head. When I joined Flag I had every intention of doing both bands but it was physically impossible. Flag had all this stuff in progress, so I put Descendents on hold.|source=–[[Bill Stevenson (musician)|Bill Stevenson]] on the group's first hiatus.|align=right |bgcolor=#c6dbf7 |salign=right |width=33%}}

The band continued performing for a time with Ray Cooper on vocals, who would switch to [[rhythm guitar]], when Aukerman made return visits to Los Angeles.<ref name="Interviews"/><ref name="All">{{cite AV media notes |title=All |title-link=All (All album) |others=[[All (band)|All]] |year=1998 |type=CD bookelt |chapter=All/Descendents Family Shrub |publisher=Owned & Operated Records |id=O&O 007-2 |location=[[Fort Collins, Colorado]]}}</ref><ref name="Shrub">{{cite web |title=All/Descendents Family Shrub |year=1996 |url=http://www.descendentsonline.com/archive/gnusletters/pages/1996fall-b-norb.htm |work=descendentsonline.com |publisher=[[Descendents (band)|Descendents]] |access-date=February 7, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110709014738/http://www.descendentsonline.com/archive/gnusletters/pages/1996fall-b-norb.htm |archive-date=July 9, 2011  }}</ref> At the same time, Stevenson had also joined [[Black Flag (band)|Black Flag]], intending to be in both bands at once but soon finding it too difficult due to Black Flag's touring and recording schedule.<ref name="Hallraker"/>

With Aukerman in college and Stevenson in Black Flag, the Descendents went on hiatus from 1983 to 1985.<ref name="Interviews"/><ref name="All"/><ref name="Shrub"/> During this time Navetta burned all of his equipment and moved to [[Oregon]], while Cooper and Lombardo performed as the Ascendents.<ref name="FAQ"/><ref name="All"/><ref name="Shrub"/>