Strange Rumblings From Orange County, Pt 2

And so I sit, not in my gitch this time, but sitting. And I read over my little review-thing of Mommy's Little Monster, the first LP from Social D. And I think to myself, what is a good way to lure more folks to the light and the truth? Is there some easy way of summing up a large chunk of their career without looking at every album? Is there, somewhere in the world, a sampler, a hits package, something that covers their music from the beginning to some more recent moment, and it has to have the late Dennis Darnell on it...
Oh, yeah. Live At The Roxy.



First, some label history... Social D had put out two very stong albums on an indie label and then three very strong albums for a major label. Whatever happened with the major label, Social D wiggled their way out of the contract and signed with Time Bomb. Back to the indies, back to the basics, I guess. Their first outing with Time Bomb was Live At The Roxy, released in 1998.

Now, some line up history... I won't bore you with the revolving door of players, suffice to say there have been quite a few members of Social Distortion since 1978 (for the entire list click here). On this tour in '98, the band consisted of Mike Ness (duh) and Dennis Darnell on guitar and John Mauer on bass and Chuck Biscuits on drums. For anyone who doesn't know, Mr. Biscuits resume includes pounding the beat for D.O.A., Black Flag, Danzig, Circle Jerks, Run-DMC and The Four Horseman... Yeah, the man seems to have history. Since leaving Social Distortion, he seems to have retired.

Anyway... Social Distortion live. As good as the studio albums are, nothing, no-one, nowhere, can touch this band live. No matter the line up, no matter how old or how young or how sober or how messed up, this band plays with more passion and drive and emotion and tightness and soul than any other band ever, ever, ever. I saw Springsteen live in '84 and until I saw Social Distortion, I thought I knew how a live show was supposed to feel and sound.
Ness is a bottle of nitro just this side of going off and taking everyone with him. He's a demanding front man who's been pulling the band on his almost-out-of-control frenzied roller-coaster ride night after night after night for twenty-eight years now. No wonder his celeb fans include Pearl Jam and The Foo Fighters and Springsteen and Sum 41 and Rancid and Dropkick Murphys. And Vince Vaughn and Angelina Jolie and Kevin Bacon.

And so on.

Back to the album.



The set list. No-one can argue with song choices on this album. Every song is tight and strong and mighty and a triumph. The only problem? No Sick Boy. Not that most would have noticed. In the liner notes, Mike Ness apologizes for forgetting to include Sick Boy. He's a funny guy that Mr. Ness. Yes he is.

Anyway. The songs. They cover the entire spectrum of Social Distortion's catalogue up until that point. The early punk, the pure three-chord rock and roll, the roots, they're all there. Even a couple of covers, Under My Thumb and the second-best version of Ring Of Fire ever. Every song is a classic, every song is played like its the last time the band will ever get a chance to play them. The pacing, the choices, they are all spot-on. Before I heard this album, I used to argue that the best night ever captured on tape and released for the masses was James Brown Live At The Apollo, Volume 1. Now that takes a back seat. It was a hell of moment to be caught for eternity. And to think, they are this good every night they play. Bouncing Buddah in a waterpark.

The crowd. Non-stop excitement from beginning to end. A bit of a sing along on Ball & Chain, but it doesn't come off as cheesy. They cheer, they sing, they have a ball. Except one guy, who gets called out by Mike Ness from the stage ("You got nine more of those fingers? Take all ten of them and stick them up your ass.") (Don't piss of Mike Ness if you ever get to see them live. He's been known to drop his guitar and dive into the crowd and having security pull him off of some sorry son of a bitch.)



Live At The Roxy works both as an obsessed fan work and as an introduction to the world of Social Distortion. It Rocks, it Rolls, it'll kick you in the ass.

I give it ten Eddie Spaghettis out of ten.