Sound Advice gives CityBeat readers a preview of local shows. This week, Jason Gargano previews The Descendents and Frank Turner.
The Descendents have been causing a ruckus since before Ronald Reagan became President, before Mt. Saint Helens erupted and before Sid Vicious left this world.
The Southern California quartet — led by singer Milo Aukerman and drummer Bill Stevenson — were kicking around for five years before they dropped their full-length debut, 1982’s landmark Milo Goes to College, a snotty punk record with enough melodicism and adolescent angst to prick up the ears of rock and roll normies and anarchists alike.
If you go
What: The Descendents and Frank Turner
When: Feb. 15 at 7 p.m.
Where: Andrew J Brady Music Center, 25 Race St. in Cincinnati
More info: bradymusiccenter.com
“We didn’t fit in with normal society, but we also weren’t copacetic with the punk scene,” Aukerman said about their early days in a 2025 interview with It’s Psychedelic Baby Magazine. “I was a nerd, so to me it felt like I wasn’t cool in either world. Nonetheless, part of what was appealing about punk for me is flipping the bird to everyone so that you can just be yourself.”
More than four decades in, Aukerman and Stevenson, along with longtime bassist Karl Alvarez and guitarist Stephen Egerton, are still performing their catchy brand of punk and power pop — a sound and vision that has infected multiple generations of likeminded pranksters.
Once such devotee, British singer/songwriter/guitarist Frank Turner, has teamed up with The Descendents for another co-headlining tour across the U.S.
A generation younger, the rabble-rousing Turner has released a torrent of music and toured relentlessly since surfacing from the south of London in the early aughts. His most recent studio album, 2024’s Undefeated, is typically all over the place, teeming with wordy ruminations about everything from his music-loving childhood to pandemic PTSD.
The sonics are just as restless, moving from acoustic-based introspection (the intriguing “Ceasefire”) to rollicking stompers (the Pogues-like “Never Mind the Back Problems”) with equal conviction.
Turner is typically to the point when addressing his admiration for The Descendents. From a 2024 Instagram post about playing live with the enduring SoCal punks: “I can’t exaggerate how much I fucking love this band. This was an absolute life highlight for me.”