Mike Ness Looks Back At Social Distortion 35 Years Later

03-30-2025

Mike Ness took to social media to reflect on the 35th anniversary of Social Distortion's self-titled album and why it was such an important record in the band's long history.

Ness wrote, "35 years ago this week we released the self titled album 'Social Distortion'. At this point we had already been a band for 11 years. Why self title it? I was doing the writing as early as 87 as I was trying to create, or recreate our sound.

"In my opinion by 1985 punk music had hit a lull and a lot of bands were doing the same old thing. There also started to be rules. Yes, rules in a scene that was based on breaking rules. 'That's not punk dude!' I thought this was ridiculous! As I understood it, being a punk was about being an individual-and HOWEVER that looked for yourself. Definitely NOT doing what everyone else was doing or following a generic mold. It was clear to me I needed to do something different and unique. We took 'A hard right!'

"I realized we were an American band and needed to embrace our roots.
Why not combine Americana w Punk???? So there it was.... Country , rockabilly, punk and blues!!!!

"Every album, an artist can use the chance to reinvent themselves and this was the perfect one. The main thing I learned from punk music was the high energy, brutal honesty and attitude. I knew if I kept close to these values, it would stay sincere. It was also here that I realized if you don't take risks in life, you don't grow and you lose a chance to explore a new side of yourself.

"I invite you all to refer back to this record as it was an important and pivotal moment in this bands history, and one I'm still proud of."