Hypercaffium Spazzinate

They released their sixth studio album Cool to Be You in 2004, and then took an extended hiatus for the band to have some time off and for singer Milo Aukerman to teach biology. In 2010, the band members reunited to play a series of live shows and work on songwriting.

In May 2015, drummer Bill Stevenson announced the band was in the process of recording demos for an upcoming album. Guitarist Stephen Egerton revealed in July that they were recording.{{cite web|url=http://www.altpress.com/news/entry/descendents_are_recording_new_music|title=Descendents are recording new music|work=Alternative Press|publisher=Alternative Press Magazine, Inc|author=Scofield, Chelsea Renee|date=July 3, 2015|access-date=December 26, 2017}} The band recorded the tracks for the album in three different studios in Colorado, Oklahoma, and Delaware.

Hypercaffium Spazzinate addresses topics of love and relationships, getting old, needing to diet, recovering from illness, and fighting for yourself. The lead track "Feel This" was written by Karl Alvarez after the death of his mother. "No Fat Burger" is about not being able to eat unhealthy foods without consequences. Milo Aukerman called it an update to "I Like Food". "Smile" and "Comeback Kid" are about Aukerman's view on past illnesses of Bill Stevenson. "Limiter" is Aukerman's view on his child needing to take drugs for his ADHD. "Beyond the Music" is about the band being friends outside of music.{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/descendents-on-the-virtues-of-becoming-punk-codgers-20160617|title = Descendents on the Virtues of Becoming Punk 'Codgers'|magazine = Rolling Stone|date = 17 June 2016}}

On April 20, 2016, at a show in the Standing Room at Hermosa Beach, California, the band premiered 6 new songs; "Shameless Halo", "Victim of Me", "Feel This", "Testosterone", "Full Circle", and "On Paper", all of which would end up on the album. They also announced they would be releasing their seventh studio album, which would be entitled Hypercaffium Spazzinate through Epitaph Records on July 29, 2016.{{Cite web|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/descendents-played-their-first-hometown-show-in-almost-two-decades-this-week/|title=Descendents Played Their First Hometown Show in Almost Two Decades This Week |work=Noisey|date=22 April 2016 |publisher=Vice|access-date=2016-06-21}} The album would be accompanied by five-track EP, Spazzhazard. "Victim of Me" was chosen to be the first single from the album, and was released on all streaming services on June 7.{{Cite web|url=http://www.stereogum.com/1881399/descendents-victim-of-me/mp3s/|title=Descendents – "Victim Of Me"|date=2016-06-07|website=Stereogum|access-date=2016-06-21}} It was released to radio a day later.{{cite web|url=http://www.fmqb.com/Article.asp?id=40076|title=FMQB Airplay Archive: SubModern Rock|publisher=Friday Morning Quarterback Album Report, Incorporated|access-date=October 31, 2016}} "Without Love" was released on July 11 to streaming sites.{{Cite web|url=http://www.spin.com/2016/07/descendents-without-love-stream/|title=Descendents Rewind the Clock on 'Without Love'|date=11 July 2016}} It was released to radio on July 20. Hypercaffium Spazzinate was publicly made available to stream on July 21 through NPR.{{Cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/2016/07/21/485840798/first-listen-descendents-hypercaffium-spazzinate|title = Review: Descendents, 'Hypercaffium Spazzinate'|newspaper = NPR|date = 21 July 2016|last1 = Heller|first1 = Jason}} Between September and November, the group performed headlining shows across the US.{{cite web|url=http://www.altpress.com/news/entry/descendents_announce_headlining_tour|title=Descendents announce headlining tour|work=Alternative Press|publisher=Alternative Press Magazine, Inc|author=Ralpha, Caitlyn|date=June 14, 2016|access-date=December 26, 2017}}

{{Music ratings

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1Score = {{Rating|3.5|5}}{{cite web |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/hypercaffium-spazzinate-mw0002952792|title=Hypercaffium Spazzinate – Descendents | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic|website=AllMusic}}

| rev2 = Exclaim!

| rev2Score = 7/10{{cite web | url=http://exclaim.ca/music/article/descendents-hypercaffium_spazzinate | title=Descendents – Hypercaffium Spazzinate | publisher=Exclaim! | date=July 27, 2016 | access-date=August 3, 2016 | author=Gormley, Ian}}

| rev3 = Punknews

| rev3Score = {{Rating|4.5|5}}{{cite web |url=https://www.punknews.org/review/14530/the-descendents-hypercaffium-spazzinate|title=Descendents – Hypercaffium Spazzinate|date=25 July 2016 }}

| rev4 = Rolling Stone Australia

| rev4Score = {{Rating|4|4}}{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/descendents-on-the-virtues-of-becoming-punk-codgers-20160617|title=Descendents on the Virtues of Becoming Punk 'Codgers'|magazine=Rolling Stone|date=17 June 2016}}

}}

Hypercaffium Spazzinate received positive reviews. Writing for Exclaim!, Ian Gormley lauded the band's "continued relevance". However, the album's title was the cause of much controversy in the UK due to the use of the word spaz: the music website Real Gone called for a boycott on the album{{Cite web|url=http://www.realgonerocks.com/2016/07/editorial-comment-descendents-hypercaffium-outdatum-offensium/|title=EDITORIAL COMMENT: Descendents – Hypercaffium Outdatum Offensium {{!}} Real Gone|website=www.realgonerocks.com|date=July 2016 |language=en-US|access-date=2018-06-18}} and charity group Stay Up Late started a campaign to get the album's title changed for the European market.{{Cite news|url=https://stayuplate.org/descendents-spazz-hazard-boycott-new-lp/|title=Descendents 'Spazz hazard'– boycott their new LP – Stay Up Late|date=2016-07-18|work=Stay Up Late|access-date=2018-06-18|language=en-GB}}

{{Track listing

| total_length = 31:01

| title1 = Feel This

| writer1 = Egerton (music), Alvarez (lyrics)

| length1 = 1:14

| title2 = Victim of Me

| writer2 = Egerton (music), Stevenson (lyrics)

| length2 = 1:36

| title3 = On Paper

| writer3 = Alvarez

| length3 = 1:45

| title4 = Shameless Halo

| writer4 = Egerton (music), Alvarez (lyrics)

| length4 = 2:05

| title5 = No Fat Burger

| writer5 = Aukerman

| length5 = 0:43

| title6 = Testosterone

| writer6 = Aukerman

| length6 = 1:22

| title7 = Without Love

| writer7 = Stevenson & Egerton (music), Stevenson (lyrics)

| length7 = 3:19

| title8 = We Got Defeat

| writer8 = Egerton (music), Alvarez (lyrics)

| length8 = 0:57

| title9 = Smile

| writer9 = Aukerman

| length9 = 3:10

| title10 = Limiter

| writer10 = Aukerman

| length10 = 2:07

| title11 = Fighting Myself

| writer11 = Alvarez

| length11 = 2:13

| title12 = Spineless and Scarlet Red

| writer12 = Stevenson

| length12 = 3:15

| title13 = Human Being

| writer13 = Egerton (music), Stevenson (lyrics)

| length13 = 0:40

| title14 = Full Circle

| writer14 = Aukerman

| length14 = 1:54

| title15 = Comeback Kid

| writer15 = Aukerman

| length15 = 2:18

| title16 = Beyond the Music

| writer16 = Egerton (music), Stevenson (lyrics)

| length16 = 2:23

}}

;Deluxe editions bonus tracks (taken from the Spazzhazard EP)

{{Track listing

|title17=Days of Desperation

|length17=2:08

|writer17= Stevenson

|title18=Thinkin

|length18=2:27

|writer18= Alvarez

|title19=Grindstone

|length19=1:03

|writer19= Egerton (music), Alvarez (lyrics)

|title20=Business A.U.

|length20=2:16

|writer20= Aukerman

|title21=Unchanged

|length21=3:01

|writer21= Egerton and Stevenson (music), Stevenson (lyrics)

}}

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;Descendents

• Milo Aukerman – vocals
• Stephen Egerton – guitar
• Karl Alvarez – bass guitar
• Bill Stevenson – drums

;Additional musicians

• Longfellow – backing vocals
• Grover – backing vocals
• Maddie Stevenson – backing vocals
• Miles Stevenson – backing vocals

{{col-2}}

;Production

• Milo Aukerman – additional engineering
• Stephen Egerton – recording engineer, producer
• Bill Stevenson – producer, recording and mix engineer, mastering
• Jason Livermore – recording and mix engineer, mastering

;Artwork and design

• Chris Shary – front cover
• Jason Link – back cover

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{{Descendents}}

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Category:2016 albums

Category:Descendents albums

Category:Epitaph Records albums

Category:Albums produced by Bill Stevenson (musician)