Descendents’ Bonus Fat gathers formative punk recordings on vinyl and cassette

Descendents’ earliest recordings are collected on Bonus Fat this November

Descendents will revisit their first recordings on Bonus Fat, a newly assembled edition of the band’s early singles and EP material due through Org Music on 13 November 2026.

The eight-track release brings together the 1979 debut single Ride the Wild / It’s a Hectic World, the 1981 Fat EP and the later compilation inclusion Global Probing. Originally compiled in 1985, Bonus Fat maps a particularly sharp shift in the band’s sound: from the loose, surf-tinted power pop of its earliest 7-inch to the short, wired hardcore blasts that arrived two years later.

Those recordings predate Milo Goes to College, but already contain the restless humour, melodic bite and velocity that became central to Descendents’ catalogue. The reissue will arrive on 12-inch 45 RPM vinyl, CD and cassette.

From Hermosa Beach to Hollywood

The tracks from Ride the Wild and It’s a Hectic World were recorded at Media Art in Hermosa Beach in January 1979, while the Fat EP and Global Probing sessions took place at Music Lab in Hollywood in March 1981.

All eight songs were produced and engineered by Spot, with original artwork by guitarist Frank Navetta. The recordings feature Milo Aukerman on lead vocals across Side A, with Bill Stevenson on drums and backing vocals, Navetta on guitar and backing vocals, and Tony Lombardo on bass. Navetta sings lead on Ride the Wild, while Lombardo fronts It’s a Hectic World.

The new vinyl edition has been cut by Dave Gardner at DSG Mastering and pressed at Furnace Record Pressing.

Colour variants and cassette edition

Alongside standard black vinyl, Org Music will issue a widely available Wienerschnitzel colour pressing. A limited Salt + Pepper shatter vinyl edition, restricted to 300 copies, will be exclusive to the Org Music store. Further retailer variants will be available through selected independent outlets, while the cassette will arrive in a split red-and-white shell.

Pre-order the album here.

The complete early-years set

Bonus Fat places the rapid-fire songs from the Fat sessions beside the band’s first recorded material, including My Dad Sucks, Mr. Bass, I Like Food and Wienerschnitzel.

1. My Dad Sucks
2. Mr. Bass
3. I Like Food
4. Hey Hey
5. Wienerschnitzel
6. Global Probing
7. Ride the Wild
8. It’s a Hectic World