Rocky Rockbottom wrote: Sun Jun 04, 2023 1:50 am None of them This music may not be my thing but it makes millions of people happy. Maybe even thrills them to bits. Life affirming even. Who am I to infringe on their happiness?

Abstaining from voting.

M.H wrote: Sat Jun 03, 2023 12:59 pm The truth lies somewhere between classism

kokorodoko wrote: Can you talk some more about this? Like what distinctive things about a band like Social Distortion engenders this reaction, and is there an example you could give of a band in a similar style that would not be subject to that kind of prejudice?

M.H wrote: Wed Dec 01, 2021 3:13 am

penningtron wrote: Tue Nov 30, 2021 12:06 pm His solo material is even worse (and hokier). That said I don't know if it was more rockabilly or a shitty attempt at sounding like Johnny Cash.

I was going to try and step to defend S.D, but yes, it must be acknowledged that those solo records are not good, and they're not good because he fucked w/ the "O.C punk w/RnR melody" formula.

The thing w/ S.D is that Ness writes about people and situations that speak to damaged, underclass, white trash people (like myself) who crave a little cultural recognition. Chalk it up to class divisions, but you won't get it if you haven't lived it... and Ness gets the unwanted outsider thing where your past mistakes are like a noose that hasn't quite tightened, he gets the thankless grind thing where the job drains you more and more every week, he gets that the walls are closing in and that hope just hurts... and he records what he sees with an open heart. That's why he draws such a fanatical fan base across various tribes.

I'll accept that what I can take as romanticism gets pretty close to a hokey / corny vibe, but if that's what he needs to do to write the best set of rock and roll loser songs since Johnny Thunders, then that's fine by me.

losthighway wrote: Sun Jun 04, 2023 7:43 am ^ I don't think it's fair to suggest that any criticism against art that champions working class people is inherently classist. That's awfully close to saying that a criticism of a mediocre hip hop mc must be racist. Working class people deserve good songwriters too.

Krev wrote: Sun Jun 04, 2023 3:18 pm Mike Ness sang songs about a 1950's that didn't actually exist.

Wood Goblin wrote: Sun Jun 04, 2023 3:21 pm Not to defend SD—I’m indifferent to them, but . . .

Krev wrote: Sun Jun 04, 2023 3:18 pm Mike Ness sang songs about a 1950's that didn't actually exist.

True, but so did The Cramps, the B-52s, The Misfits, The Strat Cats, etc.