Photo by Christine MarieSOCIALDISTORTION
If OC music had an iconic, tattooed, greased-up figurehead, it could only be Social Distortion's Mike Ness. From the first wave of punk bands, Social D were initially among the more ambitious, recording several sides of what would become self-defining classics: “The Creeps (I Just Wanna Give You),” “Moral Threat,” “1945,” “Playpen,” and the song (and album of the same name) that would've become an archetype no matter what county it was made in, “Mommy's Little Monster.” But when punk was supplanted by new wave in the early '80s (and when the police shuttered the few punk clubs), Social D disappeared, and Ness tumbled into a black pit of smack addiction. After several years, he pulled a Phoenix and cleaned up, re-formed his band (with his best Troy High School buddy, the late Dennis Danell), got signed to mega-label Epic, cut a whole slew of new classics (“Story of My Life,” “Ball and Chain,” “Bad Luck,” “I Was Wrong”), and pretty much hasn't let up since. (Rich Kane)
THECADILLACTRAMPS
Of all the pre-Offspring-era OC bands that should've made it huge, the Cadillac Tramps for a time looked to be theone.They had a big following (evidenced by the neat fact that they had to play under a fake name once when they played Linda's Doll Hut) and songs that threw together Social D-influenced punk with impressive pop, blues, rockabilly and soul. At their 1993-94 zenith, they were opening for Pearl Jam and playing South By Southwest. Then, for myriad reasons, they broke up. Since regrouping in 1999, they play occasionally, and the music is as rewarding as it's ever been. (RK)
DEXTERROMWEBER
Ex-Flat Duo Jets front-maniac would be a ferocious one-man-band—somewhere between Hasil Adkins and Dr. Ross—but, my God, he enlisted a drummer and now he's rawer and crazier than God or science could have foreseen. Also appearing with Flying Saucers at Avalon Bar in Costa Mesa on Tues., 10 p.m. $5. 21+. (ChrisZiegler)
DEKEDICKERSONANDTHEECCO-FONICS
Local-ish boy Deke won high praise at the Ponderosa Stomp for leading a house band through a sweltering—but never sloppy—set. That's tough to do—if there's one sort of person in the world predisposed to jump all over your shit when you fuck up, it's an old rock N roller. But they loved Deke because he knew all their songs and didn't mess them up. That's why we love him too. (CZ)
