When renowned (and often copied) Los Angeles punk rockers the
Descendents were forced to go on hiatus in the late '80s when singer
Milo Aukerman left the group to attend college full-time, the remaining members decided to carry on under a different name:
ALL (lifted from the title of the
Descendents' final 1987 studio recording). Former
Descendents members
Bill Stevenson (drums),
Stephen Egerton (guitar), and
Karl Alvarez (bass) were all in attendance, as former
Dag Nasty frontman
Dave Smalley assumed vocal duties. The group signed on with the Cruz label, issuing an EP and a full-length album in 1988,
Allroy for Prez and
Allroy Sez, before
Smalley was replaced with
Scott Reynolds. The
Reynolds-led version of
ALL issued four albums overall: 1989's
Allroy's Revenge, 1990's
Trailblazer: Live and
Allroy Saves, and 1992's
Percolator (in addition to their own releases, the entire band backed original
Descendents' bass player
Tony Lombardo on his 1991 solo release New Girl, Old Story, which was credited to Tonyall). Soon after, it was then
Reynolds' turn to bid the band farewell (later turning up in the bands Goodbye Harry and
the Pavers) and
Chad Price stepped in, resulting in such further releases as the band's last release for Cruz, 1993's
Breaking Things. 1995's brief allegiance with a major label (Interscope) brought
Pummel before they signed on with Epitaph and issuing 1998's
Mass Nerder, 1999's self-titled release, and 2000's
Problematic. In 1996,
Aukerman and
Stevenson teamed up once more to briefly reunite the
Descendents (with
ALL members
Alvarez and
Egerton filling in for the others), resulting in a tour and an all-new studio album,
Everything Sucks. ~ Greg Prato