In this thread over in IMHO, brave Doper **Cluricaun **offers up a shirt for evaluation and is mostly slagged.
But there is hope - it has led to a reference to the great band **Social Distortion **- to which **Cluricaun ** remarked:
So my duty is clear - spread the word on Social D. They come up pretty regularly here on the Dope, so I am hopeful most music-minded Dopers at least know of them, but just in case - here is what I wrote in Cluricaun’s thread:
So - Social D lovers, chime in. Social D initiates, you’re welcome!
There’s a local Social D tribute band around here called Sick Boys. The singer’s voice is spot on for Mike Ness’s. They do a good job and we’ve had a couple good shows with them.
Ring of Fire is my favorite Social D song (even though it’s a cover).
Social Distortion is and will always be one of my favorite bands. It’s just straight up balls out rock and roll, of which there is very little these days. Even my mom likes Social D and in bars where there’s some available on the jukebox it seems to play nearly non-stop. Great beer drinking, pool shooting, card playing music.
(I have heard them referred to a lot of ways: punk, rock, rockabilly, psychobilly, etc. I tend to go with **Cluricaun’s **“straight up balls out rock and roll”)
Another big fan here (just to represent for the late-40’s lawyer segment of the fanbase). Was very pleased to turn my teens onto Social D - my youngest (Mommy’s Little Monster) plays them over the sound system while working at a suburban DQ.
To my mind, they have just the perfect blending of punk and twang.
Sick Boys
Highway 101
Story of My Life
This Time Darlin’
Mommy’s Little Monster
Born To Lose
Winners and Losers
Ball and Chain
Nickels and Dimes
Angel’s Wings
And their covers of Ring of Fire and Under My Thumb
And a whole bunch more.
I saw them last month at The Fillmore and they rocked, of course.
It was my first time back in a mosh pit in like 15 years. I had an awesome time and can’t wait to see them again.
I was a huge fan in college and still respect them immensely. Saw Mike Ness on his solo tour in the late 90s. Watched him try to beat the crap out of a guy in the audience who had pissed him off. Good times.
I like “When the Angels Sing” because it just seems kind of sweet that even a hood like Mike Ness finds comfort in the presence of God. (And I’m not particularly religious myself.) It is mildly strange, though, to realize that the guy pounding the skins on that song is not former D.O.A. member Chuck Biscuits, as the liner notes of White Light, White Heat, White Trash indicate, but latter-day Journey drummer Deen Castronovo.
They’re one of my favorite bands as well, punk or otherwise. I’m always a late bloomer, so I blew off seeing them at one of the late '90s Warped Tours, probably in favor of some trendy ska band. Luckily, I got into them a few years later and got to see them live at a nicer indoor venue in 2005. Mike Ness was as awesome as ever.
For all Social D fans, do yourselves a favor and check out Mike’s two solo albums, Cheating at Solitaire and Under the Influences. Both are good, but Cheating at Solitaire is one of my all-time favorite albums – I actually prefer it as a whole to any Social D albums in their entirety. The music still has a hard, dirty, dangerous edge, but it is a lot more “rootsy” than Social D. There are several twangy old covers (including my favorite version of Bob Dylan’s “Don’t Think Twice”), and fantastic guest musicians like Brian Setzer and Royal Crown Revue’s swingin’ saxman Mando Dorame. The music sounds like it belongs in a Quentin Tarantino movie, which I mean as a ringing endorsement.
I used to cover “Bad Luck” in one of my bands. My bass player dug Social Distortion so we worked up one of their tunes. I liked them ok but I was never into punk that much.
I enjoyed playing “Story of My Life” on Guitaro Hero 3, though.
Recommendation for Ness’s solo work seconded. And for sheer guest star firepower, it’s worth mentioning that *Cheating *also includes a duet with Bruce Springsteen…I belive the song is Misery Loves Company…
Wow. I’ve never heard their version of Death or Glory - what is it on?
Mommy’s Little Monster was always my favorite but a close second is Mike Ness’ cover of Marty Robbins’ Big Iron.
Back in the early '90’s they were one of the few really cool bands to played Fresno, CA with any regularity. We saw so few decent shows that whenever Social Distortion came to town it was a huge event. I always loved the fact that at every show there would be this group of “frat guys” (the type not specifically) who would just stand at the edge of the pit and shove whoever was coming around the pit edge. As most of you probably know, this is some really poor pit etiquette and it would invariably end up in a brawl. The best part was that one time Mike Ness stopped the show and gestured toward the “frat guys” and instructed the security to “Kick those assholes out - they started it.”
Saw them in concert about… 15 years ago, maybe? I liked them, but have grown to really dislike the singer’s voice. They still play them CONSTANTLY on the “new rock” station in San Francisco. I’m a little tired of them…
Oh man, tell me about it! Orlando “rock” radio is the worst I’ve ever heard. Thank goodness for WPRK from Rollins College for actually playing cool, eclectic, interesting music and not the constant stream of nu-metal and cock rock.
