Low Fidelity: The Descendents Hit San Diego

Old-school punkers The Descendents rolled through Soma Thursday night, and delivered their signature nerdy, coffee-soaked hardcore gospel to a raving crowd of punks old and young.

Walking into Soma, one was met immediately with a happy and welcoming atmosphere. Fans everywhere were sporting shirts adorned with The Descendents’ signature “Milo” logo, a glasses-wearing line drawing of the band’s singer, punk-turned-biochemist Milo Aukerman. The logo has, since the inception of the band, been a symbol of dorkiness and fun, a contrast to the usual destructive and nihilistic imagery and lyrics of punk artists.

Not to mention, The Descendents just released their seventh, and first in 12 years, studio album “Hypercaffium Spazzinate.” True to their roots, the title is a reference to a supposedly even more potent strain of caffeine, which Aukerman discovered through his work as a scientist. It features a classic Descendents sound, with catchy numbers about love and emotions being mixed seamlessly with thrashier numbers about food and old age.

The night kicked off with a set from Long Beach rock group LAW, featuring Jakob Nowell (son of legendary reggae/punk act Sublime) on vocals. The band called to mind “I Against I” era Bad Brains, which was fitting as the band closed out their set with a cover of “Reignition” from that same album.

In contrast to LAW’s obvious Sublime influence, Nowell’s pre-song banter revolved almost entirely around themes of brainwashed zombies controlled by a corrupt and oppressive government. Quite the juxtaposition, one could say.

Up next was a nine-song set from locals The Widows. Although their songs yielded the first circle pit of the night, not much more can be said about them. Every song was bookended with banter that wanted to be witty and funny but didn’t quite make the cut, and all the riffs could’ve been grabbed from more or less any SoCal punk band. Fun to dance to, but musically the band was somewhat lacking.

One and a half bottles of water and a trip to the merch booth later, The Descendents took the stage. It didn’t take much to start the pit, and before long a circle pit of flailing limbs clad in patched denim jackets was spinning around the venue.

The band, sounding as tight and youthful as ever, made short work of their nearly 30-song setlist. Although the crowd didn’t have much enthusiasm for newer songs, whenever The Descendents busted out any of their classics (“Suburban Home” and “Descendents” especially) fans went insane. It seemed that with every song a new crowd surfer was flying across the front rows. Young and old fans alike were getting just as into the songs, singing along and going hard without a care in the world.

All told, The Descendents are one of the greatest punk bands of all time. They’ve influenced more bands than any one person could count, not to mention that their live show is still phenomenal after all these years.