Mommy's Little Monster

Mommy's Little Monster is the first album released by American punk rock band Social Distortion, which was released in 1983.

Although critically-acclaimed but not commercially successful, Mommy's Little Monster has been regarded by some critics as one of the most influential punk rock albums of all time as well as the band's best album. The album features their live staples "The Creeps", "Another State of Mind", "Telling Them" and the title track, which has been frequently played by KROQ.

Background

In 1982, Social Distortion took part in the Someone Got Their Head Kicked In tour with Youth Brigade (as chronicled in the documentary Another State of Mind) and broke up shortly afterwards. However, due to the tour's success, the band reconciled not long afterward and immediately decided to begin work on their first album. They reconvened in the studio to record the album in a single session. Mommy's Little Monster was recorded at The Casbah in Fullerton, California on December 24, 1982 for numerous hours to cut down studio costs, which explains low budget production.

The exposure afforded to Social Distortion from the tour and subsequent documentary led to Mommy's Little Monster being a surprise hit despite its self-released status. However, the album suddenly went out of print in the mid-80's after leader Mike Ness started to take the checks that were coming into 13th Floor Records and meant to be put towards future pressings of the album or new releases, and used them to subsidize his drug habit.

Reissues

Mommy's Little Monster was reissued several times, with different formats and labels. The album was originally released on vinyl LP in 1983 on 13th Floor Records, a label owned by their manager at the time, Monk Rock.

The label Triple X Records briefly reissued the album on vinyl and cassette in 1989. Six years later, Mommy's Little Monster was re-issued once again when Ness started Time Bomb Recordings with some of the profits he made from Social Distortion's Epic releases, and reissued Mommy's Little Monster on vinyl, cassette, and CD through a distribution deal with Arista Records. The 1995 version has remained in print ever since.

As of the 1995 re-release of Mommy's Little Monster, the 13th Floor and Triple X versions are now out of print.

A gramophone picture disc version of Mommy's Little Monster was released in 2001, but it is also rare.

Album cover

The cover of the album features an image of a skeleton and human child (wearing a mask), who are seated in a chair watching a war movie (featuring a mushroom cloud) in a somewhat abandoned house, with nothing except for the chair, television, mailbox, three lead pipes and a lot of debris. It is suggestive to the after effects of an early Hydrogen Bomb test. The album cover was designed by Art Morales.

Track listing

1. "The Creeps (I Just Wanna Give You)" – 2:03
2. "Another State of Mind" – 2:38
3. "It Wasn't a Pretty Picture" – 3:10
4. "Telling Them" – 3:12
5. "Hour of Darkness" – 2:49
6. "Mommy's Little Monster" – 3:33
7. "Anti-Fashion" – 2:19
8. "All the Answers" – 2:23
9. "Moral Threat" – 5:16

Notes

• The title track was featured in the game Tony Hawk's Underground.
• "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 (as Michael Ness) – Vocals, Guitars
• Dennis Danell – Guitars
• Brent Liles – Bass
• Derek O'Brien – Drums

References