Hypercaffium Spazzinate
2016 studio album by the Descendents
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Hypercaffium Spazzinate is the seventh studio album by the American punk rock band the Descendents, released on July 29, 2016, through Epitaph Records. It is the band's first album since Cool to Be You in 2004.
| Hypercaffium Spazzinate | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by the Descendents | ||||
| Released | July 29, 2016 | |||
| Recorded | 2015 | |||
| Studio | The Blasting Room, Fort Collins, Colorado; Armstrong Recording, Tulsa, Oklahoma; Whitehouse Studio, Newark, Delaware | |||
| Genre | Punk rock[1][2] | |||
| Length | 31:01 | |||
| Label | Epitaph | |||
| Producer | Bill Stevenson; Stephen Egerton | |||
| Descendents chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Hypercaffium Spazzinate | ||||
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This was their highest-charting album on the Billboard 200 chart with a peak position of number 20.
Background
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.[3] The band recorded the tracks for the album in three different studios in Colorado, Oklahoma, and Delaware.
Lyrical themes
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.[4]
Release
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.[5] 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.[6] It was released to radio a day later.[7] "Without Love" was released on July 11 to streaming sites.[8] It was released to radio on July 20.[7] Hypercaffium Spazzinate was publicly made available to stream on July 21 through NPR.[9] Between September and November, the group performed headlining shows across the US.[10]
Critical reception
Hypercaffium Spazzinate received positive reviews. Writing for Exclaim!, Ian Gormley lauded the band's "continued relevance".[1] 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[13] and charity group Stay Up Late started a campaign to get the album's title changed for the European market.[14]
Track listing
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Feel This" | Egerton (music), Alvarez (lyrics) | 1:14 |
| 2. | "Victim of Me" | Egerton (music), Stevenson (lyrics) | 1:36 |
| 3. | "On Paper" | Alvarez | 1:45 |
| 4. | "Shameless Halo" | Egerton (music), Alvarez (lyrics) | 2:05 |
| 5. | "No Fat Burger" | Aukerman | 0:43 |
| 6. | "Testosterone" | Aukerman | 1:22 |
| 7. | "Without Love" | Stevenson & Egerton (music), Stevenson (lyrics) | 3:19 |
| 8. | "We Got Defeat" | Egerton (music), Alvarez (lyrics) | 0:57 |
| 9. | "Smile" | Aukerman | 3:10 |
| 10. | "Limiter" | Aukerman | 2:07 |
| 11. | "Fighting Myself" | Alvarez | 2:13 |
| 12. | "Spineless and Scarlet Red" | Stevenson | 3:15 |
| 13. | "Human Being" | Egerton (music), Stevenson (lyrics) | 0:40 |
| 14. | "Full Circle" | Aukerman | 1:54 |
| 15. | "Comeback Kid" | Aukerman | 2:18 |
| 16. | "Beyond the Music" | Egerton (music), Stevenson (lyrics) | 2:23 |
| Total length: | 31:01 | ||
- Deluxe editions bonus tracks (taken from the Spazzhazard EP)
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17. | "Days of Desperation" | Stevenson | 2:08 |
| 18. | "Thinkin" | Alvarez | 2:27 |
| 19. | "Grindstone" | Egerton (music), Alvarez (lyrics) | 1:03 |
| 20. | "Business A.U." | Aukerman | 2:16 |
| 21. | "Unchanged" | Egerton and Stevenson (music), Stevenson (lyrics) | 3:01 |
Personnel
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Charts
| Chart (2016) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums (ARIA)[15] | 19 |
| Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[16] | 53 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[17] | 94 |
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[18] | 8 |
| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[19] | 56 |
| UK Albums (OCC)[20] | 137 |
| US Billboard 200[21] | 20 |
| US Independent Albums (Billboard)[22] | 1 |
| US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard)[23] | 2 |
| US Digital Albums (Billboard)[24] | 14 |
| US Indie Store Album Sales (Billboard)[25] | 1 |
| US Billboard Vinyl Albums[26] | 1 |