Mommy's Little Monster (CD - 1983)

Additional personnel: Chazz Ramirez (organ).

Producers include: Social Distortion, Chaz Ramirez, Thom Wilson.

Recorded on December 24, 1982.

Personnel: Mike Ness (vocals, guitar, electric guitar); Derek O'Brien (vocals, drums, percussion); Dennis Danell (guitar, electric guitar).

Recording information: Casbah, Fullerton, CA (1983); Casbah; Fullerton (1983).

A casual listen to this debut album by the long-running California punkers suggests a band very much of its time, but if you listen carefully you can already hear what ultimately set the group apart from the rest of the hardcore pack. Sure, leader Mike Ness tended to bark out his lyrics rather than sing them, and sure, the rest of the band had learned every move from the Ramones/Pistols/Clash playbook. But even at this stage, the group already had a sense of humor (the title song), a musical palette that went beyond punk (you can hear the early Who here at times, not to mention echoes of the bluesy side of the Stones), and a bit of honest emotion; whether this was a result of Ness's drug dependency demons or not, these songs are never generic punk rants--they're an expression of somebody's actual feelings. minimize