Pitchfork

When the Descendents decided to reunite in 1996, many questioned the fate of All, an intentionally more progressive outfit that was born from the ashes of the Descendents after their lead vocalist, Milo Aukerman, decided to pursue a scientific career in 1988. The band, anticipating these concerns, immediately announced its foremost intention to continue both bands. As they put it, All and the Descendents would coexist peacefully as two separate heads of the same monster. Mass Nerder marks the first All release since these developments, and though the album contains expected parallels to the recent work of the Descendents, it possesses a fair share of respectable differences as well.

Those who were disappointed by All's decision to sign to a major a few years ago will be happy to know that they have since recanted their sin and are now a member of the Epitaph family. Those who were disappointed with All's last release, Pummel, will be happy to see the return of Allroy in the band's cover art; the mascot had been missing for over seven years, and his return suggests that the band is interested in revisiting the infectious qualities of their earlier material.

Listeners familiar with the Descendents' last effort, Everything Sucks, and the aforementioned All album, Pummel, will probably note the organizational similarities between those albums and Mass Nerder; start with a supercharged tirade, cut to the album's single, make way for a thirty- second fun song, break it back down for a poppier track, etc. Here, the connections between the two- headed monster are most evident. Despite the predictability of the arrangement, however, it does make for an interesting variety.

The most distinguishing element in All's sound is lead vocalist, Chad Price. Does he really make a contribution to the band or is he just an excuse for the guys to put out more records under the All moniker? To his credit, Chad's songs represent some of the strongest on the album; he's even capable of writing a honky-tonk song like "Honey Peeps" without it coming across as repulsive. Karl Alvarez has strung together an equally impressive set of songs, including the album's most powerful track, "I'll Get There;" personally, I think he's beginning to outshine bandmate Bill Stevenson, once the undisputed king of pop- punk songwriting. Bill can still kick out some classic warm- hearted tunes ("Silly Me"), but overall, his rate of production seems to be dwindling. The biggest gain between this album and All's last is the quality of Stephen Egerton's songs. Fortunately, he has temporarily veered away from the cock- rocking Dookie- fits that ruined overall impressions of Pummel.

All and the Descendents are at their best when they kick back a little and break into sensitive song, and Mass Nerder contains enough examples of this to make it a meaningful listen. Are two heads better than one? Well, we get double the product in half the time, and as long as we keep getting quality goods, we'd be fools to complain.