Mommy's Little Monster (album)
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''Mommy's Little Monster'' is the debut studio album by American
punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...
band
Social Distortion Social Distortion is an American punk rock band formed in 1978 in Fullerton, California. It consists of Mike Ness (vocals, guitar), Jonny Wickersham (guitar), Brent Harding (bass), David Hidalgo Jr. (drums), and David Kalish (keyboards). Emerg ...
, released in 1983 through the label 13th Floor Records. It is Social Distortion's only album to feature bassist
Brent Liles Brent Harold Liles (September 7, 1963 – January 18, 2007) was an American musician who was the bassist for Social Distortion from 1981–1984 and later was the bassist for Agent Orange from 1988 – 1992. Early life Liles was born on Septembe ...
and drummer Derek O'Brien, both of whom were out of the band by early 1984 and would be replaced by
John Maurer John Maurer may refer to: * John Maurer (Social Distortion) John Maurer (born July 14, 1961) is an American musician who was a longtime bass guitarist for Social Distortion from 1984 to 2004. Career He joined Social Distortion in early 1984 f ...
and Chris Reece respectively. ''Mommy's Little Monster'' is notably different from the band's subsequent releases, featuring styles of traditional punk rock and
hardcore Hardcore, hard core or hard-core may refer to: Arts and media Film * ''Hardcore'' (1977 film), a British comedy film * ''Hardcore'' (1979 film), an American crime drama film starring George C Scott * ''Hardcore'' (2001 film), a British documen ...
. The album received underground acclaim from punk rock fanzines, and it has been acknowledged as influential and inspirational to the then-burgeoning
pop-punk Pop-punk (also punk-pop, alternatively spelled without the hyphen) is a rock music fusion genre that combines elements of punk rock with power pop or pop music, pop. It is defined by its fast-paced, energetic tempos, and emphasis on classic pop s ...
and
skate punk Skate punk (also known as skatecore and skate rock) is a skateboarding, skater subculture and punk rock Music genre, subgenre that developed in the 1980s. Originally a form of hardcore punk that had been closely associated with skate culture, sk ...
scenes.


Background

In 1982, Social Distortion took part in the tour with Youth Brigade (as chronicled in the documentary '' Another State of Mind''). ''Mommy's Little Monster'' was recorded at the Casbah in
Fullerton, California Fullerton ( ) is a city located in northern Orange County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 143,617. Fullerton was founded in 1887. It secured the land on behalf of the Atchison, Topeka and S ...
, on December 24, 1982. They recorded the album in a single session for numerous hours to cut down studio costs.


Reissues

''Mommy's Little Monster'' was reissued several times, with different formats and labels. The album was originally released on
vinyl Vinyl may refer to: Chemistry * Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer * Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation * Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry * Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from vinyl ...
LP in 1983 on 13th Floor Records, a label owned by their manager at the time, Monk Rock. The
Triple X Records Triple X Records was a Los Angeles-based record company started by three former employees of the bankrupt Greenworld Distribution: Dean Naleway, Peter Heur and Charley Brown. The label was known for "a fearlessly eclectic catalogue that broke awa ...
label reissued the album on CD, vinyl, and cassette in 1989. Six years later, ''Mommy's Little Monster'' was re-issued once again when Ness started
Time Bomb Recordings Time Bomb Recordings was a Laguna Beach, California-based independent record label, founded in 1995 by artist manager Jim Guerinot in a joint-venture agreement with Arista Records. In the following five years, the artist roster grew to encompass ...
with some of the profits he made from Social Distortion's
Epic Epic commonly refers to: * Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation * Epic film, a genre of film defined by the spectacular presentation of human drama on a grandiose scale Epic(s) ...
releases and reissued ''Mommy's Little Monster'' on vinyl, cassette and CD through a distribution deal with
Arista Records Arista Records ( ) is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously a division of Bertelsmann Music G ...
. A third reissue was released in 2010 on
Epitaph Records Epitaph Records is an American independent record label owned by Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz. A large portion of the record label, known as Hellcat Records, is owned by Tim Armstrong, frontman of the punk rock band Rancid. Several ...
in Europe and the United Kingdom. A gramophone
picture disc Picture discs are gramophone record, gramophone (phonograph) records that show images on their playing surface, rather than being of plain black or colored vinyl. Collectors traditionally reserve the term picture disc for records with graphics ...
version of ''Mommy's Little Monster'' was released in 2001.


Reception

Paul Tinelli of
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
gave ''Mommy's Little Monster'' four out of five stars and called it "the epitome of early-'80s suburban California punk and provided inspiration for many future Californians, including
the Offspring The Offspring is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Garden Grove, California, in 1984. Originally formed under the name Manic Subsidal, the band currently consists of lead vocalist and guitarist Dexter Holland, Bryan "Dexter" Holland, ...
and Rancid" and said that it "finds the band supplying plenty of attitude and aggression as they rip through nine tracks worth of hard, fast, power chord-filled tracks loaded with snarling anti-establishment lyrics and themes." Tinelli also stated that "The Creeps" and "Telling Them" "show a young punk group that is very angry, and they were going to let society know it whether they wanted to hear it or not", and adds that the title track "Mommy's Little Monster" "gives you a good idea of the characters Social Distortion was surrounded by in the scene of the day." In a 1984
Trouser Press ''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who, Dave Schulps, and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference ...
review, Don Howland said, "Cruising on a buzz of non-stop stun guitar and Ness' smoky deadpan vocals, this catchy-as-dermatophytosis punk pop is a surprisingly sophisticated product of the LA underground. Ness proves to be one of current punks better songwriters." Howland concluded that calling the album an "instant classic,...sounds about right."
Tim Yohannan Tim Yohannan (August 15, 1945 – April 3, 1998), also known as Tim Yo, was the founder of '' Maximum Rocknroll'', a radio show and fanzine documenting punk subculture in San Francisco. He also helped in establishing a number of DIY collectives, ...
of ''
Maximumrocknroll ''Maximumrocknroll'', often written as ''Maximum Rocknroll'' and usually abbreviated as ''MRR'', is a not-for-profit monthly online zine of punk subculture and radio show of punk music. Based in San Francisco, ''MRR'' focuses on punk rock and ...
'' said "You've got to know by now what Social Distortion sound like—those distinctive vocals, the harmonies, the rockin' guitars, and melodic hooks galore. Their album is filled with more of the same. Nothing here is too frantic except 'The Creeps', which really blazes forth. There's precious little exciting punky-pop around these days, but this is one of the rare examples of it."


Track listing

Earlier versions of "All the Answers" and "Moral Threat" were originally recorded in 1981 and can be heard on the 1995 compilation '' Mainliner: Wreckage from the Past''.


Personnel

*
Mike Ness Michael James Ness (born April 3, 1962) is an American musician who is the lead guitarist, lead vocalist and songwriter for the punk rock band Social Distortion, which was formed in 1978. He has also released two solo albums, '' Cheating at Sol ...
(as Michael Ness) – vocals, guitars *
Dennis Danell Dennis Eric Danell (June 24, 1961 – February 29, 2000) was an American guitarist who was a founding member of the Southern California punk rock band Social Distortion. Biography Danell joined Social Distortion in 1979 while he and frontman ...
– guitars *
Brent Liles Brent Harold Liles (September 7, 1963 – January 18, 2007) was an American musician who was the bassist for Social Distortion from 1981–1984 and later was the bassist for Agent Orange from 1988 – 1992. Early life Liles was born on Septembe ...
– bass guitar * Derek O'Brien – drums, backing vocals


References

{{Authority control Social Distortion albums 1983 debut albums Triple X Records albums Time Bomb Recordings albums Albums produced by Thom Wilson