Review Summary: “Enjoy!” is bathroom music at its finest, a pristine punk rock butt log that emerges as a great album because of its ridiculous humor and a well balanced selection of songs covering the fundamentals of ALL.
If there was an album to hear while sitting on the toilet, “Enjoy!” would certainly be my primary lavatory pick. You should not get the wrong idea right away. Most people probably would not want to listen to music while on the toilet and have already disregarded this notion. However, the Descendents’ “Enjoy!” is bathroom music at its finest, a pristine punk rock butt log that emerges as a great album because of its ridiculous humor and a well balanced selection of songs covering the fundamentals of ALL (the pursuit of women, food, fishing, coffee, and fun).
The Descendents are a necessity for any punk rocker’s music catalog because of their monumental releases like “Milo Goes to College,” “ALL,” and “I Don’t Want to Grow Up.” “Enjoy” is hardly mentioned as being one of the finest works by the Descendents, likely because of its lack of groundbreaking songs and its apparent lack of taste. It contains classic songs like “Sour Grapes” and “Cheer,” but there are not many other songs on the album that will surprise you with musical brilliance.
Musical brilliance is the last thing the Descendents need to show. The Descendents win over listeners because their sound is addicting and their musical concepts hit very close to home. “Enjoy!” is the first song on the album, defining the restroom humor with “I queefed, Enjoy! / Make the most of my butt-toast / Enjoy my good friends, Enjoy!” The first six songs on the album are decisively catchy at their best and immature at their worst. The song lengths are almost perfect and incredibly proportional to the quality of the music. The album takes a quick turn with “Orgofart,” a two-minute song containing flatulent vocals. The entertainment level of “Orgofart” is mind blowing. Once the fart parade turns around the corner, “Cheer” comes in and absolutely pummels pop-punk of today, demanding a position on “Somery,” the greatest hits album of the Descendents. “80s Girl” casually continues the Descendents’ romp over a creative peak and settles while characterizing the typical, brainless, Barbie Doll Southern California girl. The first nine songs are impressive to the point of a courtesy flush, as you will want to sit around longer to notice their lingering odor of talent and insistence of replay value.
The greatest fault of “Enjoy!” is that some of the songs are just not up to par. “Green” and “Days are Blood” are extremely difficult to tolerate because they are unnecessarily lengthy and their subject matter is very beside the apparent point of the album. They change the direction of the album very unexpectedly and could be appropriate in a different context. Together, “Green” and “Days are Blood” are angry and resentful, whereas the rest of the album focuses on good times for all. It is best described as an inconsistency that hurts the album in its interpretation. However, you should be able to look past this slip because the album does not seem to decompose until the last few songs.
Though I consider myself a huge fan of the Descendents, “Enjoy!” is not my favorite album. With its misdirected ending, “Enjoy!” falters but still reeks of great quality in the end. You can, however, find the most entertaining music that the Descendents created on this album, no matter how tasteless. If you’re a light-hearted fan of punk rock, then you might want to check this out soon, because Lord knows how long your next trip to the can may be.
