I Don't Want to Grow Up is the second studio album by the American punk rock band the Descendents, released in 1985 through New Alliance Records. It marked the end of a two-year hiatus for the band, during which singer Milo Aukerman had attended college and drummer Bill Stevenson had joined Black Flag. I Don't Want to Grow Up was the first of two albums the Descendents recorded with guitarist Ray Cooper, and their last with original bassist Tony Lombardo, who quit the group because he did not want to go on tour. Though recorded quickly and without much rehearsal time, I Don't Want to Grow Up received positive reviews from critics, who praised its catchy songs, strong melodies, and pop-influenced love songs. Background The Descendents' first full-length album, Milo Goes to College (1982), had been so named because singer Milo Aukerman was departing the band to attend college; he enrolled at El Camino College for one year, then attended the University of California, San Diego from 1983–85, where he studied biology. In his absence, the band—guitarist Frank Navetta, drummer Bill Stevenson, and bassist Tony Lombardo—recruited Ray Cooper as singer and continued performing locally for a time during 1982 and 1983. Cooper preferred playing guitar to singing, however, and the band would occasionally perform with Aukerman as a quintet during his return visits to Los Angeles. Stevenson also joined Black Flag in early 1983, intending to be in both bands simultaneously. "I'm the Descendents' drummer", he said at the time. "I'm permanently in both bands. Other than that, I'm a nice person." He spent most of January–May 1983 on the road with Black Flag, touring the United States and Europe. With this experience, he desired to take the Descendents on tour as well: "I got a taste of touring in Black Flag," he later recalled, "and I wanted to take that and spread it laterally to what the Descendents would or could do." However, he encountered resistance from Navetta and Lombardo: "Bill kind of sat down with me and Frank and said something to the effect of we were at a point where we needed to grow by going on the road", Lombardo later said. "Frank said no, and I had to say no also, so he said he had to leave the band and we were both kind of bummed out. I don’t think Frank even believed him at