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Nel 1983 i Social Distortion se ne uscivano con «Mommy’s Little Monster».
Quel disco venne fuori quando la natia Orange County era travolta dalla furia hardcore, e quelli erano tempi in cui l’hardcore davvero non faceva prigionieri, nemmeno i reduci punk.
Anzi, l’hardcore si faceva forte del declino della filosofia punk, qualcosa tipo “la tua morte per la mia vita”.
Per dire che Ness, Danell, Liles e O’Brien non trovarono distese di terreno fertile da coltivare, tanto che il seguente «Prison Bound» si fece attendere svariati anni, pure se è vero che l’attesa dipese in massima parte dalle personali vicissitudini di Ness.
È vero pure che i Social Distortion non diedero mai, allora come ora, eccessivo peso al rituale appuntamento col disco nuovo da spedire negli scaffali e che, quando andò bene, si attesero “solo” due anni tra un’uscita e l’altra, quelli trascorsi tra «Prison Bound» e l’omonimo terzo e poi tra quello e «Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell».
Ma niente mi toglie dalla testa che è meglio sia andata così, che i Social Distortion siano ricomparsi in scena quando pure ad Orange County i bollenti ardori hardcore erano in buona parte sbollentati.
In quei cinque anni passati sotto silenzio, intanto, «Mommy’s Little Monster» era entrato in circolo a pochi ma buoni, quelli che accolsero il seguito della storia come il ritorno del Salvatore, perché un conto è ritrovarsi tra le mani «Punks Not Dead» degli Exploited, un altro ritrovarsi sottopelle «Mommy’s Little Monster».
Quel disco li consegnò alla storia del punk, i Social Distortion, pure a prescindere dal tanto di buono che seppero fare poi.
E però sono tra quelli – pochi o tanti, non so dire – disposti a mettere entrambe le mani nel fuoco che alla storia ci sarebbero passati uguale, anche se non avessero mai scritto, cantato e suonato le canzoni di «Mommy’s Little Monster».
Perché prima vennero un pugno di canzoni altrettanto imprescindibili, che nel 1995 finirono raccolte in «Mainliner», canzoni come droghe pesanti iniettate per intravenosa, anche queste destinate a finire sottopelle e restarci in eterno.
Dieci pezzi in tutto.
«Moral Threat» e «All the Answers» erano già note per stare dentro «Mommy’s Little Monster», ma conoscerle di già non sminuiva in alcun modo la passione di ascoltarle ancora ed ancora.
E poi, questa “nuova” «Moral Threat» dimezzata nel minutaggio e tanto più grezza era davvero una sensazione nuova.
Stessa cosa per «Justice for All» che, invece, fece la sua comparsa in «Prison Bound» col titolo modificato di «It’s the Law»; anzi no, qui è davvero un pezzo diverso, tirato fino allo spasimo ma con una vena melodica e pure classica in bella evidenza, quella che fin dai primordi fu caratteristica distintiva dei Social Distortion prima e, poi, di buona parte della scena punk californiana.
Poi, il resto erano tutti brani mai sentiti prima, almeno da queste parti, perché figurati chi conosceva singoli e b-sides semiclandestini che i Social Distortion avevano inciso quando «Mommy’s Little Monster» era ancora un miraggio.
E qui andava a finire che pure la tempra più coriacea del punk più coriaceo fosse messa a durissima prova, figurarsi io che punk non lo sono mai stato, non per tempra, tanto meno per attitudine, al massimo per affinità.
Perché «1945» e «Playpen», «Mass Hysteria» e quell’esplosiva «Under My Thumb» che frantumava in ciottoli pure le pietre rotolanti, non davano scampo e, se ai tempi avessero avuto la meritata visibilità, i fanatici dell’hardcore montante non avrebbero impunemente spadroneggiato ad Orange County.
Per non dire di «Mainliner», di gran lunga il migliore tra i pezzi che Strummer e Jones avrebbero voluto scrivere, senza peraltro mai riuscirci.
E allora sì, ci metto entrambe le mani nel fuoco che i Social Distortion sarebbero passati alla storia anche se «Mommy’s Little Monster» non l’avessero mai inciso.
Bastavano ed avanzavano questi venti minuti scarsi.
Elenco tracce testi e video
01 1945 (01:52)
[Chorus:]
Atom bomb,
TNT new disease,
Poor city flying over hiroshima,
1945 the city looks small from way up here i wonder who'll survive,
[Chorus]
Poor city a blinding flash hotter than the sun,
Dead bodies lie across the path the radiation colors the air finishing one by one,
[Chorus]
02 Playpen (02:40)
When the cat's away, the mice will play
Beer and drugs and things to say to you, to you
Lots of girls and lots of boys
Loud music and all the toys we need,
We need
Chorus:
We have to go
the neighbors have complained
We have to go
the walls have all been stained
They have to know
they cant stop us now
They have to know
we could burn this town
Old men and kids on the run
Missing teeth and now the damage is
Done, it's all been done
Losing battles, losing fights
The police would love to take away our
Rights, our rights
Chorus:
03 Mainliner (02:30)
Nothing she can do, She's so confused
Something should be done, But she'll refuse
She's got a new fix, to ease her pain
She's got a new fix, to control her brain
Oh, no no no mainliner, mainliner
Out of frustration, she unwraps the foil
Takes out her spoon, starts to boil
She used to be pretty, To all her friends
But the hypodermic needle
Took her to the end
Oh, no no no mainliner, mainliner
She's boiling up, always in heat
Stick it in again
Just to keep her beat
This time she'll try a little more
This time we found her on the floor
Oh, no no no mainliner, mainliner...
04 Moral Threat (03:35)
You beat us up when we're alone
Come back later and then you're gone
Now you're tucked away in your bed
And I've got stitches in my head
Cause you didn't like my looks
Cause I'm not in the fashion books
Admit it, you had some fun,
Just remember, I'm not the only one
You made a show for all your friends
But they're not gonna stick around to the end
Then you're gonna think, "Was it really worth it?"
Then your head is rolling in all that shit
Cause you didn't like my looks
Cause I'm not in the fashion books
Admit it, you had some fun,
Just remember, I'm not the only one
The justice system is slow it's true
So we'll have to take care of you
You're only safety is suicide
Face it buddy it's the end of the ride
Cause you didn't like my looks
Cause I'm not in the fashion books
Admit it, you had some fun,
Just remember, I'm not the only one
Moral Threat
05 All the Answers (02:12)
1,2,3,4,5,6,7
You won't see these kids in heaven
Colored hair and funny clothes
They are the menace of today
And they won't listen to what you say
But don't forget that they're your future
They're loud, they're obnoxious and proud
They are conscious
But don't forget that they're your future
They're loud, they're obnoxious they're proud
They are conscious
But don't forget that they're your future
These kids are accused for all the violence
You can't even keep them silent
You thought you had all the answers
You won't be able to make them pay
Cause they're not gonna fade away
Don't forget that they're your future
They're loud, they're obnoxious and proud
They are conscious
But don't forget that they're your future
They're loud, they're obnoxious they're proud
They are conscious
But don't forget that they're your future
Don't forget they're your future
And you thought you had all the answers
06 Justice for All (02:03)
We're sitting here in this hell
You know it's like a living hell
Was what you did really a crime?
The judge says you'll have to serve time
It's the law that you're in jail
It's the law that sets your bail
Don't bother to try and fight
It's only a few more nights
The deputy, had a bad night
He had a little fight with his wife
And so he's gonna be pised at work
And he's gonna bum out your life
It's the law that you're in jail
It's the law that sets your bail
Don't bother to try and fight
It's only a few more nights
07 Under my Thumb (02:04)
Under my thumb' the girl
Who once had me down
Under my thumb's the girl
Who once fucked me around
It's down to me
The way she does when she stole the truth out of me
Change has come, she's under my thumb
Under my thumb's
The squirmin' dog who's just had her day
Under my thumb's
A girl who has just changed her ways
It's down to me
The difference in the clothes she wears, down to me
Change has come, she's under my thumb
Under my thumb
It's a siamese
Cat of a girl
Under my thumb
Well, she's the sweetest
Pet in the world
It's down to me
The way she does as wash your soul out of me
Change has come, she's under my thumb
Under my thumb
Her eyes are just kept
To herself
Under my thumb
Well, I
I can still look at someone else
It's down to me
The way she comes when I tell here to laugh at me
Change has come, she's under my thumb
Yeah
10 Mass Hysteria (02:41)
An emotional outbreak, stepped on by
people's feet, controlling panic, who'll
be the next one in line, a nervous
disturbance, there's a sniper on the top
of the roof, the masses of people, fitting
through one single door
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