Punk icons Social Distortion are rounding up four of their albums for your turntable in a new vinyl box set out this fall.
The Independent Years 1983-2004 fills in the gaps on either side of their major-label tenure from 1990 to 1996. Founded in southern California in 1978 and led since then by singer/guitarist Mike Ness, Social D's first album, Mommy's Little Monster, was self-released in 1983. Five years later, after Ness kicked a drug habit and reorganized the band after a hiatus, Prison Bound found the group channeling Johnny Cash and The Rolling Stones (with a cover of "Backstreet Girl" to boot) around the edges of the local cowpunk scene.
While their self-titled 1990 album earned them crossover success with a cover of Cash's "Ring of Fire" and the original "Story of My Life," they still maintained connections to their early punk roots. In 1995, a year before the release of their final major-label album, White Light, White Heat, White Trash, the band compiled Mainliner (Wreckage from the Past), featuring 10 single sides and compilation-only tracks from 1981 and 1982.
The final album in this box, Sex, Love and Rock 'N' Roll, broke the band's longest gap between albums--eight years, brought on by two solo records of Ness' and the sudden passing of longtime guitarist Dennis Dannell in 2000. The track "Reach for the Sky" became the band's ninth single to hit Billboard's Alternative Top 40, and set the stage for a third decade of punk success, including their most recent album, 2011's Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes.
All four albums receive their first vinyl pressings since their original releases--each on special translucent color variants. A bundle on the band's official store includes a limited edition lithograph signed by Mike Ness. Look for the box in stores December 9 and check out pre-order links and track lists below!
Social Distortion, The Independent Years 1983-2004 (The Bicycle Music Company, 2016)
LP1: Mommy's Little Monster (13th Floor Records SD-1301, 1983) - red translucent vinyl
- The Creeps (I Just Wanna Give You)
- Another State of Mind
- It Wasn't a Pretty Picture
- Telling Them
- Hour of Darkness
- Mommy's Little Monster
- Anti-Fashion
- All the Answers
- Moral Threat
LP2: Prison Bound (Restless Records 72251, 1988) - concrete swirl translucent vinyl
- It's the Law
- Indulgence
- Like An Outlaw (For You)
- Backstreet Girl
- Prison Bound
- No Pain No Gain
- On My Nerves
- I Want What I Want
- Lawless
- Lost Child
LP3: Mainliner (Wreckage from the Past) (Time Bomb Recordings 70930 43502-1, 1995) - clear translucent vinyl
- 1945 (Posh Boy) (from Rodney on the Roq: Volume 2 - Posh Boy PBS-123, 1981)
- Playpen (Post Boy) (single A-side - Posh Boy PBS-11, 1981)
- Mainliner (single B-side - Posh Boy PBS-11, 1981)
- Moral Threat (cancelled 12" B-side - Posh Boy PBS-1011, 1981 - released on The Future Looks Brighter - Posh Boy PBS-120, 1987)
- All the Answers (from The Future Looks Brighter - Posh Boy PBS-120, 1987)
- Justice for All (cancelled 12" B-side - Posh Boy PBS-1011, 1981 - released on The Future Looks Brighter - Posh Boy PBS-120, 1987)
- Under My Thumb (single B-side - 13th Floor Records SD-4501, 1982)
- 1945 (13th Floor) (single A-side - 13th Floor Records SD-4501, 1982)
- Playpen (13th Floor) (single B-side - 13th Floor Records SD-4501, 1982)
- Mass Hysteria (from Someone Got Their Head Kicked In! - Better Youth Organization BYO-001, 1982)
LP4: Sex, Love and Rock 'N' Roll (Time Bomb Recordings 70930 43547-1, 2004) - gold translucent vinyl
- Reach for the Sky
- Highway 101
- Don't Take Me for Granted
- Footprints on My Ceiling
- Nickels and Dimes
- I Wasn't Born to Follow
- Winners and Losers
- Faithless
- Live Before You Die
- Angel's Wings
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