Social Distortion
The Beaumont
May 3, 2011
I'd like to say Social Distortion hasn't lost a step -- like being the operative word. While the punk institution's rock and roll is still powerful, and Mike Ness can still hit the notes, all the hits ("Mommy's Little Monster," most notably) seemed slowed down a step or two. Even "Sick Boy," a slow stomper at its speediest, seemed to plod. A reggae coda did not help.
The band was all over the stage and looked amazing, striking guitar-slinger poses left and right, but Social D's always been more about the music than the pose, so it was disconcerting to see an act with that much history put on more of a visual show than a musical one. The ironic aspect of all of that posing is that, due to the height of the Beaumont stage, unless you were within 30 feet of the stage, you couldn't see much more than bassist Matt Freeman's head.
Chuck Ragan's new album is called Covering Ground, "as it seems that's all we do these days," and he and his backing band played a few numbers from it. His folk punk proves you can convert an entire warehouse of a venue with surprisingly raucous music, even if you're using nothing more than a violin, guitar, and stand-up bass.
Feedback plagued "Rotterdam," but the trio soldiered on, not letting it stop their energy one iota. It seemed they saved one last burst for their closer, "California Burritos," which they sang forth clear as a bell.
The U.K. imports Sharks opened the show with an admirable display of mod-inspired punk rock. Sounding like a cross between the more rock-and-roll moments of the Clash and the more upbeat outings from the Jam, Sharks got the proceedings going energetically. Their last song saw them joined by Ragan, who added a little rasp to their melodies.
Overheard: "So many black T-shirts ..."
Critical bias: Raging sinus headache that made me hate pretty much everyone in the Beaumont, especially the screechy drunk girl right near me who kept calling my wife a bitch.
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Dear God-----If you give us back Sid V and Johnny Thunders---we will give you Justin Beiber and Mike Ness!!!
"Social D's always been more about the music than the pose" is one of the most biased, off the mark statements I've ever seen. Everything about that band has been a costume for the last 20 years; the last vital, relevant record they did was in 1992. Mike Ness is more concerned with his lats than he is about writing new songs, and all of those greaser/punker/rockabilly dipshits confuse loyalty to the Social D brand with having actual musical taste.
Fuck Mike Ness and his bullshit tough guy facade----Check out a real punk institution---Keith Morris of the 80s punk band The Circle Jerks new band OFF. Ness has been trying to cash in since the early 90s( with the social d jackets etc) and all the little punk rock kids fall for it.
Its funny that the writer of this piece mentioned The Clash and The Jam. I think of those two great bands every time I hear Rancid, Green Day, or Social D. Whats up with all these "fake British accent bands"?? Hey guys , youre from California not Brixton!!!
These guys have been total douches for the longest time. If the fedora and suspenders can't tip you to that, maybe their recordings can. Benign yet overwrought: bad combination.
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