Guitarist Stephen Egerton is best known for his work with legendary punk band The Descendents and its offshoot All, but he is impressively talented with other instruments, too.  One thing he isn’t, though, is a singer, so he enlisted the help of some of punk’s best singers to provide vocals for The Seven Degrees of Stephen Egerton. 
 

The album follows punk’s credo of keeping it simple with heavy emphasis on the guitar and hard(ish)-edged melodies, and while no new trails are blazed, Egerton’s guitar work is as technically perfect and relentlessly passionate as ever.  Because he also did all the musical writing and mixing, there is a strong cohesion to the disc and a strong similarity of style.  Fortunately, the use of a different vocalist for each of the sixteen tracks adds the bite necessary to avoid redundancy.  It’s good to have friends.
 

Most importantly for fans, there are songs featuring The Descendents’ Milo Aukerman and All’s Chad Price and Scott Reynolds.  Auckerman’s “She’s Got Everything” absolutely could be a Descendents song with the tremendous chemistry he and Egerton share and Chad Price slips right back into the All sound with “Funny Face.”  “Sunny Disposition” is, musically at least, one of the weaker songs on the disc, but Reynolds’ vocals make it darn good.  If you’re a fan of either The Descendents or All, you’ll definitely like these tracks.
 

 “South for the Winter,” featuring Tim McIlraith of Rise Against is one of the hardest-driving songs on Seven Degrees with relentless guitar riffs while John Moreland’s “Abundance of Fluff” is a throaty drinking song.  Alkaline Trio’s Dan Adriano is smooth on “Our Last Song” and Jon Snodgrass brings some bluegrass to “Fire’s On.”  “Print on Paper” is one of my favorite tracks.  It has the most infectious beat with just enough pop to make it perfect for summer and Less Than Jake’s Chris Demakes keeps his vocals fast and light.  “On the Avenue” is another fave with spooky lyrics and strong melodies from Jesse Cole and “Willie Wicked” is rhythmic and fun with frenzied vocals courtesy of Abe Brennan (Wretch Like Me).  “Cut Me Down to Size” with Mike Herrerra and “Frank Daly’s “Falling Out” are my least favorite songs with their generic melodies and silly lyrics.
 

Collaborative albums are tough to pull off.  They can end up sounding like half-baked mixes or they can drag a single sound out too long.  The Seven Degrees of Stephen Egerton avoids both those fates by tailoring each song to its vocalist and letting Egerton’s guitar shine.  These aren’t the hardest edged punk songs ever, but they are all fast and fun and they keep you rocking.  There’s just enough pop sensibility to get some of these songs radio play and enough strong beats and awesome riffs to keep you up and dancing. This is simply a fun summer record and to have mini Descendents and All reunions is icing on the cake.
 

Track List:
1 Flip (Feat. John Speck of The Fags)
2 Fire’s On (Feat. Jon Snodgrass of Drag The River)
3 Abundance Of Fluff (Feat. John Moreland of The Black Gold Band)
4 South For The Winter (Feat. Tim McIlrath of Rise Against)
5 Funny Face (Feat. Chad Price of All/Drag The River)
6 Never Again (Feat. Bill McShane of Ultimate Fakebook)
7 On The Avenue (Feat. Jesse Cole of In Stereo/Le Fang)
8 Our Last Song (Feat. Dan Andriano of Alkaline Trio)
9 She’s Got Everything (Feat. Milo Aukerman of The Descendents)
10 Cut Me Down To Size (Feat. Mike Herrera of MXPX)
11 Sunny Disposition (Feat. Scott Reynolds of All)
12 When They Roam (Feat. Joey Cape of Lagwagon/Me First And The Gimme Gimmes)
13 Print On Paper (Feat. Chris DeMakes Of Less Than Jake)
14 Falling Out (Feat. Frank Daly of Big Drill Car)
15 Silencer (Feat. Mark Vecchiarelli of Shades Apart)
16 Willie Wicked (Feat. Abe Brenna of My Name/Wretch Like Me)