Social Distortion debuts new CD, plays the Abyss

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by Eric Munoz

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OK, no clichés. This article will not wax poetic on the greatness of Social Distortion's new album. It will simply tell you straight- forwardly: Social Distortion is a good band playing good music.

White Heat White Trash White Light , Social Distortion's sixth release in their lengthy 17-year history, proves that age does not lead to stagnation.

The album is replete with the same angry lyrics and raging guitars that have been their trademark style since their early days as an Orange, Calif., punk band. It is Mommies Little Monster times 10, and some might think it should be.

After all, it did take over four years to churn out this angered, manic, guitar-ridden CD. In the process, the SD lineup also changed. From D.O.A., Black Flag and, most recently, Danzig drummer, Chuck Biscuits joined the band.

"We're just anxious to play right now," vocalist Mike Ness said. "We've been locked in the studio for a year. Now we wanna get out and show everybody what we're about."

And understanding what Social Distortion is about is important for understanding their music.

Since the early days of the punk music movement, Social Distortion has been rallying around an alternative teen anthem.

"You won't see these kids in Heaven/Colored hair and funny clothes/They're the menace of today/And they won't listen to a word you say/But don't forget they're your future," lyrics from "All the Answers" ( Mommies Little Monster, 1983) say.

"What I'm talking about are these people who four years ago were wearing Izod shirts. Now they're sleeve tattooed, they're pierced up and they've got blue hair. And they're ... instantly cool," Ness said. "You know what, you moron? You waited till it was safe to do it."

The intensity with which Ness lives and works has always been evident in the music he has written. There is no exception in this new album, which deals with love, hate and sadness.

The album is about "sin and redemption, temptation vs. doing what is right," Ness said. "It is a meditation on the past and a realization that whatever happened then is not necessarily good or bad."

Ness' own life has been an up-and-down struggle with drug addiction and trouble with the law. Still, these experiences do not hinder the singer. They are in fact helpful in writing material.

"`Down on the World Again' is about how I feel on any given morning before I have had my coffee or if I have just had a bad day, period," Ness said. "That's something that may never go away. That attitude I had when I was 17, that rage is still there. These days, I just try to channel it differently."

The music that backs Ness' vocals is a strange mix of '50s rockabilly and a bit of country. It still, however, draws its major influence from the early punk movement of the late '70s and early '80s.

It is this mix of straightforward heavy guitars and intense lyrics that makes White Light White Heat White Trash so infectiously groovy.

From the slow intro of "Dear Lover" to the surprise track (a blistering cover of the Rolling Stones' "Under My Thumb"), this album has only a few flaws -- most notably "When Angels Sing."

Perhaps one cliché is appropriate: Good wine gets better with age. So does Social Distortion.

This item appeared in the Arts & Entertainment section of the November 22, 1996 issue.

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