View source for 'Merican

{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2025}}
{{Infobox album
| name         = 'Merican
| type         = EP
| artist       = the [[Descendents]]
| cover        = Descendents - 'Merican CD cover.jpg
| alt          = 
| caption      = The cover of the CD version
| released     = {{Start date|2004|02|10}}
| recorded     = February and April 2002
| venue        = 
| studio       = [[The Blasting Room]], [[Fort Collins, Colorado]]; Planet of Sound, [[Wilmington, Delaware]]
| genre        = [[Hardcore punk]]<ref name="Paul">{{cite web |last=Paul |first=Aubin |title=Review: ''Cool to Be You'' |date=March 23, 2004 |publisher=Punknews.org |url=http://www.punknews.org/review/2785 |accessdate=September 8, 2010}}</ref>
| length       = {{Duration|m=15|s=15}}
| label        = [[Fat Wreck Chords]] (FAT-671)
| producer     = [[Bill Stevenson (musician)|Bill Stevenson]]
| chronology   = Descendents
| prev_title   = [[Live Plus One]]
| prev_year    = 2001
| next_title   = [[Cool to Be You]]
| next_year    = 2004
| misc         = {{Extra album cover
 | header  = Alternative cover
 | type    = ep
 | cover   = Descendents - 'Merican vinyl cover.jpg
 | border  = yes
 | alt     =
 | caption = The cover of the [[phonograph record|vinyl]] version
}}
}}

'''''{{'}}Merican''''' is an [[Extended play|EP]] by the American [[punk rock]] band [[Descendents]], released February 10, 2004. It was the band's first release for [[Fat Wreck Chords]] and served as a pre-release to their sixth studio album ''[[Cool to Be You]]'', released the following month. The EP includes two songs from the album: "Nothing with You" and {{" '}}Merican", and three [[A-side and B-side|B-sides]] from the album's sessions: "Here with Me", "I Quit", and the [[hidden track]] "Alive". ''{{'}}Merican'' marked the first release of new studio material from the Descendents since 1996's ''[[Everything Sucks (Descendents album)|Everything Sucks]]'' and was their third release ever to chart, peaking at number 29 on [[Billboard (magazine)|''Billboard'']]'s Top Independent Albums chart and at number 38 on [[Top Heatseekers]].

== Background and recording ==
In 1987, Descendents singer [[Milo Aukerman]] had left the band to pursue a career in [[biochemistry]]. The remaining members—bassist [[Karl Alvarez]], guitarist [[Stephen Egerton (guitarist)|Stephen Egerton]], and drummer [[Bill Stevenson (musician)|Bill Stevenson]]—changed the band's name to [[All (band)|All]] and released eight albums on [[Cruz Records]] and [[Interscope Records]] between 1988 and 1995 with singers [[Dave Smalley]], [[Scott Reynolds (singer)|Scott Reynolds]], and [[Chad Price]]. Aukerman contributed occasional songwriting and backing vocals, and in 1995 decided to return to music. The members decided to operate as two bands, working with Aukerman as the Descendents and with Price as All. Both bands signed to [[Epitaph Records]] and the Descendents released ''[[Everything Sucks (Descendents album)|Everything Sucks]]'' in 1996. Following the album's supporting tours Aukerman had returned to his science career, though he recorded backing vocals for All's 1998 album ''[[Mass Nerder]]''. All also released ''[[Problematic (album)|Problematic]]'' in 2000 and ''[[Live Plus One]]'' in 2001, a double live album that included a Descendents disc recorded in 1996.

The recording sessions for the Descendents' sixth studio album ''[[Cool to Be You]]'' took place with Aukerman in February 2002 at [[The Blasting Room]] in [[Fort Collins, Colorado]], with additional recording done in April at Planet of Sound in [[Wilmington, Delaware]], and were [[record producer|produced]] by Stevenson.<ref name="Cool to Be You">{{cite AV media notes |title=Cool to Be You |title-link=Cool to Be You |author=[[Descendents]] |year=2004 |type=CD liner |publisher=[[Fat Wreck Chords]] |id=FAT672-2 |location=[[San Francisco]]}}</ref><ref name="'Merican">{{cite AV media notes |title={{'}}Merican |author=[[Descendents]] |year=2004 |type=CD liner |publisher=[[Fat Wreck Chords]] |id=FAT671-2 |location=[[San Francisco]]}}</ref> The band recorded the music for the songs live in the studio with minimal [[overdubbing]], and Aukerman's vocals were recorded over the instrumental tracks.<ref name="Interviews">{{cite web |title=Interviews |publisher=[[Descendents]] |work=descendentsonline.com |url=http://www.descendentsonline.com/discography/singles_eps/ |accessdate=2010-02-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100211212200/http://www.descendentsonline.com/discography/singles_eps/ |archive-date=2010-02-11 |url-status=dead }}</ref> However, these recordings were not released for another two years. Stevenson explained that the gap of eight years between Descendents albums was due to the band members having children, and his father's death.<ref name="Interviews"/>

== Release ==
For the releases of ''{{'}}Merican'' and ''Cool to Be You'' the Descendents signed to [[Fat Wreck Chords]]. Label head and musician [[Fat Mike]] was a longtime fan of the band, and his enthusiasm for working with them was a major factor in their decision to sign to the label.<ref name="Interviews"/> Stevenson commented that "If you've got the owner of the label saying he wants to put out a record by what is probably his favorite band of all time, that's rad. That's the best possible position for a band to be in."<ref name="Interviews"/> The ''{{'}}Merican'' EP was released in February 2004, followed by the full-length album in March. Stevenson remarked that the EP served as a teaser for ''Cool to Be You'': "It's funny because, from the old Descendents fan's point of view, it's kind of like 'What? Why did they put out this EP? It doesn't even have the best songs on it. I waited seven years for this?' But from the newer kids perspective, it's more like, hey let's try to introduce this new decade of kids to Descendents so it's at least on the tip of their tongue when the album comes out."<ref name="Interviews"/> ''{{'}}Merican'' was released on both [[compact disc]] and [[extended play]] formats, each with a different cover, drawn by Jeff Hagedorn, depicting the band's [[Descendents#Milo character|Milo character]] dressed as [[Uncle Sam]].<ref name="FAQ">{{cite web |title=F.A.Q. |publisher=[[Descendents]] |work=descendentsonline.com |url=http://www.descendentsonline.com/faq/ |accessdate=2010-02-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100211194903/http://www.descendentsonline.com/faq/ |archive-date=11 February 2010 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

== Themes ==
The songs on ''{{'}}Merican'' address topics including love and relationships, sociopolitical commentary, and frustrations with life in a touring band.<ref name="Interviews"/><ref name="Luerssen">{{cite web |last=Luerssen |first=John D. |title=Review: ''{{'}}Merican'' |website=[[Allmusic]] |url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r678521|pure_url=yes}} |accessdate=2010-02-16}}</ref> Aukerman remarked that "there's no part of the ''{{'}}Merican'' EP that is a retread of anything we've done in the past. Some of the songs are major departures for us, like 'Here with Me,' and the hidden track 'Alive.' Even the title song is actually a stretch for us; if you look back on all the songs we have done, there are very few that have any 'political' content in them."<ref name="Interviews"/> {{" '}}Merican" addresses positive and negative aspects of [[History of the United States|American history]], celebrating cultural figures such as [[Otis Redding]], [[Duke Ellington]], and [[Walt Whitman]] while condemning [[Slavery in the United States|slavery]], [[Joseph McCarthy]], the [[Ku Klux Klan]], and the [[Vietnam War]].<ref name="Luerssen"/><ref name="Campbel">{{cite web |last=Campbell |first=Al |title=Review: ''Cool to Be You'' |website=[[Allmusic]] |url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r683734|pure_url=yes}} |accessdate=2010-02-16}}</ref>

"I Quit" was written by Aukerman about the frustrations of being in a band and on the road, with lyrics such as "Sick all the time, I miss my wife / I quit / Got better things to do with my life / I quit".<ref name="'Merican"/> Aukerman explained of the song:

<blockquote>
I can't even count the number of times I've quit this band, dating back to 1982 and ''[[Milo Goes to College]]''! Like most of my songs, "I Quit" is my attempt to capture those emotions that come and go, the transient ones. Those types of emotions, to me, make for the best songs because they tend to be extreme! So there is no "message" to the song, just me spewing about the negative aspects of band life. At the time I wrote the song, I really did want to quit. I don't really care how people take the song; as the line says, "I don't give a flying fuck what you think of me."<ref name="Interviews"/>
</blockquote>

==Reception==
''{{'}}Merican'' became the third Descendents release to chart (following ''[[Everything Sucks (Descendents album)|Everything Sucks]]'' and ''[[Live Plus One]]''), peaking at number 29 on [[Billboard (magazine)|''Billboard'']]'s Top Independent Albums chart and at number 38 on [[Top Heatseekers]].<ref name="allmusic charts">{{cite web|title = Descendents: Charts & Awards: Billboard Albums|website = [[Allmusic]]|url = {{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p4075|pure_url=yes}}|accessdate = 2010-01-31}}</ref><ref name="Billboard Independent">{{cite web|title = Descendents Album & Song Chart History: Independent Albums|url = {{BillboardURLbyName|artist=descendents|chart=Independent Albums}}|website = [[Billboard charts]]|accessdate = 2010-01-31}}</ref><ref name="Billboard Heatseekeers">{{cite web|title = Descendents Album & Song Chart History: Heatseekers Albums|url = {{BillboardURLbyName|artist=descendents|chart=Heatseekers Albums}}|website = [[Billboard charts]]|accessdate = 2010-01-31}}</ref> John Luerssen of [[AllMusic]] remarked that "Nothing with You" "revisit[s] the timeless lovelorn attack of cherished songs from their past like 'Wendy,' 'Clean Sheets,' and 'Silly Girl{{' "}}, while {{" '}}Merican" "harks back to vintage [[Bad Religion]]" and "I Quit" is "a nervous, edgy 'Catalina'-like throwback".<ref name="Luerssen"/> He was less complimentary about the other two songs, calling "Here with Me" merely a "palatable midtempo number" and "Alive" "worth skipping, as it drags in a way that no Descendents number has a right to."<ref name="Luerssen"/>

== Trivia ==
''Here With Me'' was originally written in 1989 by Milo and first played with his short lived band Milestone.

==Track listing==
{{track listing
| headline = Side A
| all_writing = [[Milo Aukerman]], except where noted
| title1  = Nothing with You
| length1 = 2:35
| title2  = {{-'}}Merican
| note2   = [[Karl Alvarez]]
| length2 = 1:50
}}
{{track listing
| headline = Side B
| total_length = 15:15
| title1  = Here with Me
| length1 = 3:43
| title2  = I Quit"<br/>"Alive
| note2   = [[hidden track]]
| length2 = 7:05
}}

==Personnel==
'''Band'''
* [[Milo Aukerman]]&nbsp;– [[lead vocalist|lead vocals]]
* [[Stephen Egerton (guitarist)|Stephen Egerton]]&nbsp;– [[guitar]], [[recording engineer]]
* [[Karl Alvarez]]&nbsp;– [[bass guitar]]
* [[Bill Stevenson (musician)|Bill Stevenson]]&nbsp;– [[drum kit|drums]], [[record producer|producer]]

'''Additional performers'''
* [[Chad Price]]&nbsp;– [[Backing vocalist|backing vocals]]

'''Production'''
* Jason Livermore&nbsp;– recording engineer, [[mix engineer]], [[audio mastering|mastering]]
* Andrew Berlin&nbsp;– additional engineer
* Brad Newsom&nbsp;– additional engineer
* Jeff Hagedorn&nbsp;– cover illustration, design, layout
* Jesse Fischer&nbsp;– photography

==See also==
*[[American (disambiguation)|American]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
*[http://www.fatwreck.com/record/detail/671 ''{{'}}Merican''] at [[Fat Wreck Chords]]

{{Descendents}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Merican}}
[[Category:Descendents EPs]]
[[Category:2004 EPs]]
[[Category:Fat Wreck Chords EPs]]
[[Category:Albums produced by Bill Stevenson (musician)]]