'Enjoy!' At 40

Smelly Farts & Broken Hearts

Mar 06, 2026

The toilet paper roll front and center on the original cover of Descendents’ 1986 album Enjoy! pretty much says it all.

Or does it?

The title track, along with “Orgofarts,” includes actual recordings of the band members letting it rip, often marking this collection as the SoCal band’s most immature release. Here’s the scatological opening salvo:

Flatulation punctuates the still night air
And I thank God you're here

Some music critics at the time panned Enjoy! for lines like “Sniff my ass while I pass gas,” which makes me wonder if any of them had ever heard Descendents before. (A van full of dudes who “Like Food” consuming “two large Cokes, two large fries, chili-cheese dog, large Dr. Pepper, super deluxe with cheese and tomato” from “Weinerschnitzel” is going to result in some flatulence. That’s just science, so why not sing about it?)

I’m also curious if those critics grasped the intentionally confrontational nature of many hardcore punk bands at the time (a pointedly provocative approach that was very much of the moment and would likely never find traction today). Although a lot of the genre’s ‘80s angst was aimed at politicians and parents, the more humorous Descendents managed to take a universal bodily function and weaponize it in a way that (ahem…) still flies in the face of common decency and mainstream musical tastes.

Forty years later, “Enjoy!” is a juvenile thrill that packs a playful pop punk punch—which is even funnier when you consider that it’s followed by one of most earnest Beach Boys covers of all time.

Descendents fans embrace and celebrate this very human dichotomy of smelly farts and broken hearts.

Take a step back and reconsider the cover art: Beyond it’s primary bathroom functions, toilet paper is often used as a Kleenex substitute for wiping away tears—and Enjoy! includes some of the best “nice guys finish last” proto-pop punk songs in a catalog chock full of them (“Silly Girl,” “I’m The One,” etc.).

Also, did you notice the little heart? Like the viral video from “The Invisible Gorilla” study on selective attention, it’s totally possible to focus on the toilet paper roll and completely miss the playful punctuation that hints at something a little less lewd.

Another poppy high point on Enjoy! is “Get The Time.” This is easily one of my favorite Descendents’ songs ever, in large part because of Bill Stevensons’ incredible drumming. Those machine gun rolls, surf beats, and turnarounds get me every time.

The song also portrays singer Milo Aukerman at his most vulnerable—on the very same album where the band is farting into (hopefully different) microphones:

When I get the time
I'd like to sit down
And write a little rhyme for you
Just a couple few
I'd tell you what you mean to me

Those timeless lyrics are in the same league as a world class ‘60s pop track like “Wendy.” (Unlike the darker lyrics for other fan favorites such as “Sour Grapes” and “80s Girl” that, to some degree, keep those songs trapped in the angry, post-adolescent amber of mid-‘80s outsider rage. Both are still a fun listen, but not in the same league as “Get The Time” to my ears.)

Enjoy! also features the classic hardcore blast of “Kids.”

A spastic ode to over-caffeination, this song extols the virtues of the signature Descendents brew known as the “Bonus Cup.” Here’s Bill Stevenson sharing the origins of their proprietary recipe with Alternative Press in 2020:

I would just fill the whole cup up with coffee grounds and then pour in instant coffee, and then just enough water in there to get it liquid enough to drink it and then put in like five, six, seven spoonfuls of sugar and enough cream just to choke it down.

Many punk bands are associated with a specific rock and roll poison—New York Dolls and heroin; Motörhead and speed; Fear and beer—but Descendents affinity for overindulging in coffee is another quirky hallmark of their dorky outcast status:

Edgy, but not street drugs edgy;
Accessible, but packing a punch;
Bitter lyrics sweetened with self-effacing humor and/or sheer tempo.

Despite influencing generations of punk bands, Descendents are still one of a kind and they haven’t stopped filling my bonus cup since I first discovered them in the early ‘80s. Yeah, yeah, yeah!

I’m writing about all of this because Enjoy! is getting the 40th anniversary deluxe vinyl treatment from Org Music.

Fans can pre-order limited-edition vinyl in black, wild cherry, and sour grape variants, as well as a CD or bubblegum pink cassette. I’m most drawn to the beautiful Punk Note Edition which reimagines the Enjoy! album cover through the lens of Blue Note jazz records (giving the band a slight British Invasion makeover in the process).

Descendents will also be hitting the road with fellow longtime SoCal lifers Social Distortion to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Enjoy! If you’ve never seen either of these bands live, don’t miss this chance to catch two legends on the same bill (with Australian pub punks The Chats kicking things off).

Enjoy!