Premier Rock Forum

I've got a thing for old cars, particularly rat rods, so that helps the vote.

Cramps, Billy Zoom, Los Lobos, Junior Brown, and Rev. Horton Heat for sure.

+1 for MFing Webb Wilder and the Beatnecks.

n/c.

How about shitty rockabilly-adjacent punk like Social Distortion?

Krev wrote: Tue Nov 30, 2021 11:54 am How about shitty rockabilly-adjacent punk like Social Distortion?

Never liked those guys, never saw the appeal. Figures they're from Fullerton.

enframed wrote:

Krev wrote: Tue Nov 30, 2021 11:54 am How about shitty rockabilly-adjacent punk like Social Distortion?

Never liked those guys, never saw the appeal.

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.

Not a fan of the dress-up revival version of this (or any) genre. That said, the Cramps and Hasil Adkins are fun stuff. And Duane Denison and Billy Zoom would be very different guitarists if not for rockabilly.

penningtron wrote: Tue Nov 30, 2021 12:06 pm

enframed wrote:

Krev wrote: Tue Nov 30, 2021 11:54 am How about shitty rockabilly-adjacent punk like Social Distortion?

Never liked those guys, never saw the appeal.

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.

Agreed. those rocked up Johnny Cash covers make me shiver with second hand embarrassment.

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.

I'll back every criticism of Social D above, but also add that Mommy's Little Monster is up there with early Bad Religion and The Adolescents for me as cool, early California punk rock, before the Pennywise type phenomenon hit.

If you've ever seen the tour doc Another State of Mind, you know that Mike Ness was always a tool.

Mike Ness was apparently born in Lynn, MA. He should have been reppin' the North Shore instead of the O.C. They were always popular with Dropkick Murphys fans.

(continuing this ridiculous but fun digression):

Ness has had some.. confusing looks over the years. It's like part Al Capone, part greaser, part goth eyeliner. Dude tries real hard..