TUNE-UPS NEWS + NOTES
SOCIAL DISTORTION FORMED in 1978, and amid ever-changing lineups, the presence of singer/guitarist Mike Ness has been a constant. With the release of their self-financed debut album, Mommy’s Little Monster, in 1983, they rapidly became one of the biggest names on the California punk scene, influencing countless bands in their wake. Ness’s well-documented addiction problems then saw the band stall, with a five-year gap between their debut record and its 1988 follow-up, Prison Bound. Ness knew he had to prioritize his recovery over the band’s progress at that time. “There wouldn’t have been a band if I didn’t sort myself out,” he says.
Social Distortion continued to play regularly, maintaining their hardcore, loyal fan base even when they were dormant on the recording front. Those followers were initially taken by surprise with the release of Prison Bound, which saw Ness draw heavily on the rootsy American genres of blues, rock ’n’ roll, country and rockabilly to deliver a record that was considerably different from the straightforward punk of their debut.
Two years later, the band signed to Epic, giving Ness some much (1990), saw them achieve their best sales to date and established them as major-league players. The record firmly defined the Social Distortion blueprint for every album that followed, with Ness utilizing the soulful roots of Americana harnessed to the raw energy of punk, as the ultimate means of expressing his unique musical mojo.
