Social Distortion’s debut album Mommy’s Little Monster was released 40 years ago in 1983. It had a big impact on a lot of people, Pencil Storm contributors JCE and Jeremy Porter among them.
Well, starting with the obvious, when was the first time you heard Social Distortion?
I think in 1982. I bought a punk compilation record called Hell Comes To Your House. I still have that vinyl record. The first two songs on it are “Lude Boy” and “Telling Them” by Social Distortion. I grew up in Alexandria, VA and had gotten acquainted with the D.C. hardcore punk scene. I went to see Teen Idles and Minor Threat and all that stuff for the fun of it, but Social Distortion was one of the few bands that really were considered part of that hardcore scene (remember matinee shows!) that had some melody in their songs. (I do love D.C.’s Government Issue, they had a little more than just sheer speed going on as well.) By 1982, I was in college in Charlottesville, VA and a lot of hardcore shows got booked there by a girl named Karen. When Mommy’s Little Monster came out in 1983, it was like a breath of fresh air for me. That record was loved by the hardcore punks, but it was much more musical sounding, like early Dead Kennedys and X. Lyrically, they had a little more to offer as well. It wasn’t all political and kind of broke the formula in that way too.
I was dragged to a Sunday night Social Distortion show at a dive-bar-club in a nasty neighborhood in Detroit in December, 1988. I documented the show pretty well here. I’d heard the name, I loved punk, I’d stumbled on the movie (Another State of Mind) on Night Flight, but I paid it little mind and wasn’t familiar with their music until that night.
Like JCE, I was immediately drawn in by the melody, which so much of punk lacked. I mean, the Descendents’ first album showed signs of a melodic, pop side, and the Dead Kennedys to a lesser extent, with songs like “Moon Over Marin,” but it wasn’t as common.
Mike Ness’ voice was unique in a way that attracted me the same way Bob Mould’s voice did. It wasn’t goofy like Jello Biafra’s, it wasn’t as “dude-next-door” as John Doe, Milo, Paul Westerberg, or Ian MacKaye. I loved all those guys, but the sound of Ness’ voice was truly unique. He had some of the snarl and a faux-touch of the British drawl of Generation X’s Billy Idol, and the angst of the rotating cast of Black Flag’s singers, but a timbre all his own.
Then there were the guitar solos. X had the incredible Billy Zoom, East Bay Ray was surf-influenced and perfect for the DKs, and Bob Mould and Greg Ginn embraced the punk-ethos of chaotic, sloppy but elegant solos as an artform, but Mike Ness grew up on classic rock. His solos were like punk versions of those heard on Bad Company and Boston records. His style was closer to the Pistols’ Steve Jones, but with a bit more flash, and coming from metal, I gravitated to that.
And finally, the subject matter of their songs was balanced between being socially political and singing about the opposite sex. The DKs were crying out against fascism, police brutality, and other political issues with the occasional foray into the goofy. The Descendents were usually singing about girls or food. X was revisiting rockabilly and country themes. Even with songs like “Mommy’s Little Monster,” Social D was never silly with their lyrics. Mike Ness was pining for the cute girl in his high school class while at the same time fighting with skinheads and singing about nuclear war. He missed his girl back home while he was on tour, but he’s still struggling to find a meal or a fix in the next city and running from the cops after a destructive house party. These things hit a bit closer to home for me.
What about the first time, and other times, seeing them live?
I kept somehow missing Social Distortion shows back in the early days. I never saw them until much later, even though I know they came to D.C. I don’t think they were ever in Charlottesville. I finally saw them at the 9:30 Club in D.C. in 2010 and since then I have seen them twice in Silver Spring, MD at the Fillmore, in Richmond, VA at the National and a second time at 9:30 Club—five times in all, I think. I know you saw them much earlier, which I am jealous about. Fortunately, “Telling Them,” “The Creeps” and “Mommy’s Little Monster” all show up in their sets at times. And to me, they still fit right in.
I’ve seen them 12 times in 7 cities between 1988 and 2010. Early on it was incredibly exciting – crazy shows in Detroit, huge whirlpool mosh pits. I’ll never forget one show at Saint Andrew’s Hall, a legendary Detroit venue, where they were carrying people out on stretchers in regular increments, and there were ambulances pulling up to the front like cabs in a taxi line, tending to the injured. I’d had surgery on the muscles attached to my eyeballs a couple days prior. They were blood-red, and I was in pain and miserably uncomfortable, but I wasn’t missing that show.
Later on, my attachment to the band and their live shows waned as what once seemed genuine seemed more like shtick after a couple decades, the same rants about facing the judge and getting a second chance to get out of the gutter just started to feel tired to me. At the same time, the material on those later couple records held less appeal to me as well. I never gave up on them – I think it’s great that he’s still out there doing his thing to sold-out audiences, and I wouldn’t rule out seeing them again by any means. To be honest I kind of have the itch. SirusXM recently ran an acoustic performance and interview from the recent Outlaw West Cruise, and I thought it was awesome. I would love to see them tour in that format.
Why do you think the record is great?
Like I said, it was the music. It fit the mold of punk I was around all the time. I was a big skateboarder, and that was all about backyard ramps and punk rock blasting—there was even a sub-genre referred to as skate rock. Mommy’s Little Monster has these blistering punk songs that still have melody. It changed some things for me—it was a big influence. The record still sounds really good today, 40 years on. That is a big part of what makes a record great too—how does it stand up over time? It’s not one of my all-time favorite punk records, but it was my number one favorite at the time it came out.
I think it just stands out above the pack for most things that were happening in that second wave of American punk around that time for all the reasons I listed above – melody, musicianship, voice, and diversity of subject matter. Social D was around during that first wave, but when I first heard them in `88 I didn’t realize that the album came out so late – it felt much more `80 than `83, though a lot of the material dated back to the band’s early days in the late 70s.
When Mommy’s Little Monster was released, X was releasing More Fun in the New World, which was a melody-infused, diverse album with more controlled tempos that distanced them from their early punk days. Black Flag was transitioning from their hardcore masterpiece Damaged to more metal sounding records like My War and Slip it In in 1984. And Descendents were still two years away from the bubble-gum pop-punk of I Don’t Wanna Grow Up. Social Distortion was making their own mark, and while there was a short, heroin-induced break in the mid-80s, and members came and went, they never stopped for long, and never had to reunite, unlike each of those other early SoCal bands. They’ve always just been there.
I don’t think it’s their best, but it’s such an important record. It should be on anyone’s list of crucial early LA punk albums.
Do you have any other stories related to this record or the band?
I don’t really have any great stories. That show in 2010 was my first live show in a number of years and man, it was a great return. My wife and I had been too busy raising a daughter to go to rock n roll shows, but when we made it back, Social Distortion made sure we kept at it. We go to one or two shows every month now. They’re kind of my “go to” punk band. I listened to them in the process of getting my first tattoo as well. I do recall meeting some guys in Charlottesville who were travelling all over the country. They had found this little book that listed the supposedly best music club to go to in every significant city, and they were trying to go to as many as they could in like two months or something. In Charlottesville, the book said to go to The Mineshaft. One guy had a Social Distortion shirt that was awesome. They needed a place to crash, so we let them, but my girlfriend made the dude give her his shirt to return the favor. She gave it to me, but I can’t find it now. It was a really cool early one though.
My copy of Mommy’s Little Monster is the original pressing with the gatefold sleeve and all the photos from the movie. I paid an at-the-time outrageous $30 for it after seeing on the shelf at Off The Record in Royal Oak, MI for a long time. I couldn’t afford it, but I knew I had to have it. I also have a clear-vinyl reissue.
As I recall, we got high with them after that Blondie’s show in 1988. Mike passed, he was clean (we didn’t know or we wouldn’t have offered), but Dennis and the rest of them partook. They were all really friendly and seemed to be in good spirits. I met Mike Ness again at Saint Andrew’s after their Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell show, where Pegboy and Best Kissers in the World opened. I also love both of those bands and was really excited about that lineup. I didn’t remember him being so short, and I thanked him for playing “It Wasn’t a Pretty Picture” that night.
My wife TrooperGirl22 and I saw them in Chicago in 2004 on Devil’s Night at the Congress Theatre, then jumped in a cab and went to a Drive-By Truckers show at the Metro the same night. The SxDx show was at 7 and DBT was at 9. DBT came out in prosthetics that matched their album cover at the time The Dirty South and played until well after 2am. That was a long night – we took in about 8 hours straight of blistering rock and roll.
BONUS QUESTION – What is your favorite Social Distortion record?
This is so hard for me. Of course, I like the record we are talking about here, but I love several of them. I have to go with Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell. Some of my favorite songs across all of the records are “Ball and Chain,” “I Was Wrong” and “Winners and Losers,” none of which are on that record. But it has “Bad Luck” which is my favorite track—and literally every song is killer. I’m going to stick with that answer. I know it’s probably a little less “punk” than many of their records, but it’s great. That record, the self-titled release, Sex, Love and Rock ‘n’ Roll and White Light, White Heat, White Trash are easily my top four.
Probably Prison Bound because that’s when I discovered them and it’s their first real bridge between punk and country. Songs like “It’s the Law,” “Like an Outlaw,” and “No Pain, No Gain” are just great. The reissue from a few years back helped to fix the fidelity issues of the original pressing. I love the S/T album, which might be their most consistent, and Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell too, and I think White Light, White Heat, White Trash has the best production, some of the best songwriting, and the hardest playing in their discography (thanks mostly to Chuck Biscuits on the drums).
The two albums that followed held less for me to gravitate to, but it wasn’t for lack of trying on my part. The tragic death of founding member Dennis Danell didn’t help, but it’s mostly that the lyrics, to me, have just become redundant and cliché. I’ve warmed up to Sex, Love and Rock `n` Roll (2004) a little bit over time, but as great as the playing and production are on Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes (2011), I just struggle to get through it because of the material. I’ll always give them a fair shake and hope for the best.
Final Words?
I posted on my Facebook page about this 40 year anniversary of Mommy’s Little Monster and Jeremy suggested we do this for Pencil Storm. (Thanks Jeremy, I enjoyed hearing your perspective,) I look forward to more of these 1X2 pieces on Pencil Storm. I’ve done one or two in a similar manner with Ricki C. and I like the format.
I don’t think Social Distortion gets the credit they deserve as punk pioneers and champions of the re-cooling of country music and it’s further integration into rock and roll. Their cover of “Ring of Fire” turned so many people onto Johnny Cash, and Mike Ness’ refusal to be tied to some sort of punk standard made him more punk than his detractors. Their longevity is rivaled by few, and this was a great way to look back to where it all started. Thanks JCE!
JCE, or John to his friends, was born in 1963 in the Nation’s Capital. He grew up in the VA suburbs of D.C. His earliest musical memories are tied to a transistor radio with a single earphone that he carried everywhere listening to AM radio. At this point he still listens to a steady diet of punk, power pop, metal (Faster Pussycat=Yes, Megadeath=No), alt country and anything that has plenty of good guitar and drums.
Jeremy Porter is a Co-Editor in Chief at Pencil Storm. He lives near Detroit and fronts the rock and roll band Jeremy Porter And The Tucos. Follow them on Facebook to read his road blog about their adventures on the dive-bar circuit.
www.thetucos.com
www.facebook.com/jeremyportermusic
www.rockandrollrestrooms.com
Twitter: @jeremyportermi | Instagram: @onetogive & @jeremyportermusic
