Social Distortion
Descendents, The Chats
September 04
Doors: 6:00PM / Show: 7:30PM
Buy TicketsSuper Excellent Seats are non-transferrable and day-of-show pick up only. No Alternate Pickup is available for Super Excellent Seats. Prior to doors, Super Excellent Seats can be picked up at the box office. After doors, Super Excellent Seats can be picked up at the entrance located at 900 Maine Ave. Any tickets suspected of being purchased for the sole purpose of reselling can be cancelled at the discretion of The Anthem / Ticketmaster, and buyers may be denied future ticket purchases for I.M.P. shows. Opening acts, door times, and set times are always subject to change.
Social Distortion
Since emerging from the streets of Fullerton CA in the late ‘70s, Social Distortion have become the unquestioned standard bearers for punk bands. Beginning with their classic 1983 debut album Mommy’s Little Monster and stretching through 2011’s Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes, the band, led by Mike Ness, continues to reinvent itself while remaining true to its punk rock roots.
A lifelong devotee and student of rock’n’roll dating back to a childhood spent obsessively listening to the likes of The Rolling Stones, T.Rex, David Bowie, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and eventually the Sex Pistols and Ramones, Ness always maintained that Social Distortion would be more than just a punk band. That theme is evident in the band’s first seven records, with tales of outlaws, outcasts, love lost, and a hard life lived. It’s with this earnestness and viewpoint that Ness is lionized as a truth-telling songwriter to fans all around the world.
Now, 15 years after the release of Hard Times… and a couple of years after Ness faced a life-threatening illness, comes Born To Kill. The album, a few years in the works, sees Ness take a long look inside and reflect on a well-worn journey where nothing was given and everything earned. Despite the notable timespan between albums, Ness has never stopped writing. Recorded at Sunset Sound then finished at Hillside Manor Studio with Ness co-producing with producer Dave Sardy, Social Distortion plowed through 11 bone-rattling songs (which include guest appearances from Lucinda Williams and Heartbreakers keyboardist Benmont Tench), and a couple of unreleased songs going back 30 years.
“I have to dispel the myth that it took us 15 years to write an album,” Ness says. "I kept writing after Hard Times…, so when it was time to pick the songs for this record, we had over 40 songs to choose from. “
Ness aimed to capture the spirit of his formative years, describing Born To Kill as an “homage to the beginning of my career, going out every night and watching bands, listening to records over and over again, and eventually starting my own band despite society’s volatile reaction to this new style of music and culture. Ninety-nine percent of the world was telling us we couldn’t do this. Well, now we have something to prove!”
The album’s opening salvo blazes by in just under four minutes, serving as title track and mission statement not just for this record, but also succinctly summarizing the band’s 40+ year career. With fiery guitars accompanied by defiant lyrics, combined with Social Distortion’s trademark melodic flair and Ness’s knack for creating thick grooves, “Born To Kill” takes no prisoners. “I’m the underdog who ends up on top/ The rebel poet with the peacock strut/ Gonna make a change gonna rearrange/Look out man you’re in my pissing range!" Ness proclaims bombastically in a lyric that sums up his career.
In rapid fire succession and with the trademark raw intensity that has defined Social Distortion for nearly 50 years, Born To Kill peels back the curtain on Ness’s experiences. “No Way Out” sees Ness examine the confluence of events that have defined his life, while the nostalgic “The Way Things Were” sees him reminisce about a hell-raising youth in Fullerton. Meanwhile, the rollicking, swinging rocker “Tonight” has all the qualities of a Social Distortion classic. Developed from an idea from the Hard Times... sessions, Ness confronts the realities of losing the most important relationship of his life but not succumbing to despair, choosing to fight for love and rebuild instead. “Partners In Crime ,“ a Ness favorite, layers heartfelt lyrics atop a three-chord crunch and primitive mid-tempo groove, resulting in what he describes as a “punk anthem.” And “Over You” sounds like the best Heartbreakers song Johnny Thunders never wrote.
Over the years, Social Distortion has carefully chosen cool cover songs, transforming them into Social D classics, most notably their version of “Ring of Fire” from the band’s self-titled breakthrough third album. They continue this tradition with Ness’s take on Chris Isaak’s 1989 brooding hit “Wicked Game,” on which they achieve their goal of creating an interpretation of the song like no other.
All these years later, Social Distortion is more than a gang of punk rock survivors: it remains one of the world’s most respected and revered and still relevant rock ‘n’ roll bands far beyond its Southern California home. Sharing the stage with the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam and Neil Young has found the band attracting a more diverse range of ages and lifestyles. Yet unlike many other bands that have stuck it out as long as they have, Social Distortion not only survives but thrives. Through mostly word of mouth, with their devoted fan base preaching the band’s gospel, the music has been passed down three generations now. Parents bringing their kids to shows, sometime kids bringing parents and grandparents to shows. This has become commonplace, speaking to what Ness calls a universal message echoed in his songs.
“I write about feelings, struggles, and hardship. I also write about love and joy. I try and keep it human. We were a part of the soundtrack to their life. We were one of the bands they grew up with, and they felt they needed to pass it on to their kids, which is a gift and an honor to us.”
Descendents
Since first emerging from (and defining) the Southern California pop-punk scene in 1978, the legendary Descendents have released classic after classic, from their landmark 1982 LP Milo Goes to College to 2016's Hypercaffium Spazzinate. Now, after issuing a flurry of singles to get fans through the past few years, the band — Milo Aukerman (vocals), Bill Stevenson (drums), Stephen Egerton (guitar), and Karl Alvarez (bass) — will be touring in support of a new album. With a very cool twist.
What started with Milo Goes to College now comes full circle on the blistering 9th & Walnut (Epitaph), a "lost album" quietly recorded in 2002 by the MGTC lineup of Stevenson, Aukerman, Tony Lombardo on bass, and Frank Navetta (d. 2008) on guitar. Audiences should be geared up for shows featuring songs spanning Descendents' incredible career, from "Suburban Home" and "Silly Girl" to "I'm the One" and "Without Love," and including 9th & Walnut tracks like first single "Baby Doncha Know" and its incendiary follow-up, "Nightage."
The Chats
Formed in their mate’s bong shed in Coolum, Queensland 2016 at age seventeen, The
Chats represent everything that’s good about Australia and nothing that’s bad: a rebel spirit,
gallows humour and the endless hedonistic pursuit of A Bloody Good Time. Cold stubbies
within close reach, 24-7.
Starting in their music class while at St Theresa’s Catholic College in Noosaville, a suburb of
Noosa, Queensland, two hours north of Brisbane, they began practicing in the shed in
nearby Verrierdale (pop: 775) during their final year of education (the school’s website notes
“Whilst their music may not be everyone's cup of tea, they have certainly made an impact,
and they continue to Dare the Dream.”). Their name meanwhile comes from the nearby
suburb of Chatswood.
Drawing influence from the same fertile Australian pub rock scene that spawned everyone
from AC/DC and The Saints to Cosmic Psychos and The Hard Ons, and sharing a similar
singular self-contained approach to their art as such latter-day Aussie rock heroes as King
Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard, The Chats describe themselves as “dropkick drongos from the
Sunshine Coast of Australia”. It’d be difficult to argue otherwise.
Their dress-down image of mullets, shorts, sports tops, thongs or a sandals-and-socks
combo, and cheap sunnies celebrates this fact. But don’t by mislead: The Chats are sharper
than you think, and they write killer songs that hold their own in any era. Their self-titled
debut EP was recorded in their school’s studio in 2016 and featured seven joyous sky-
punching tracks that combined 60s garage punk and 70s new wave punk (highlights
included ‘Mum Stole My Darts’ and the 53 seconds bratty thrash of ‘Yeah Nah’). It was
followed in 2017 by Get This In Ya, another thrilling seven song slice of economic, stripped-
down, early Buzzcocks-styles punk tension, whose lyrics read like a litany of things to hate
for youthful malcontents the world over (overdue social security payments, lack of bus fare,
Nazis).
But where their forefathers cut their teeth on the spit-and-sawdust circuit of beer halls Down
Under, The Chats bypassed years driving down dusty Outback roads when the lead single
‘Smoko’ became a 24-carat bona fide viral hit on Youtube. The Chats found themselves
propelled from their Queensland shed to almost overnight renown in all the right circles.
Celebrating the great Aussie tradition of the cigarette break, an allotted smoking time
protected by union law, and accompanied by a lo-fi video shot for no budget on a building
site, ‘Smoko’ was a perfectly put together punk song protesting the drudgery of dole queue
angst, minimum wage life and work-place hierarchies. Were they serious? wondered
listeners / viewers. And, more importantly, who even cares? It didn’t matter: with its pared-
down pop hooks, singer Eamon’s adolescent snarl and an unforgettable chorus, ‘Smoko’
was an instant classic of a youth anthem on a par with ‘You Really Got Me’, ‘My Generation’
or ‘Teenage Kicks’.
At the last count ‘Smoko’ has had more than 12 million views. Dave Grohl loved it so much
he sent it to Josh Homme, who immediately booked the band to support Queens Of The
Stone Age in Australia. Iggy Pop did the same when he played Melbourne, and keenly
quizzed the band on their lyrical content. Idles were heard covering on the song on their
recent Australian tour. At the time, singer Eamon was working at supermarket chain Coles.
Adhering to the mantra ‘Business at the front, party at the back’ he currently maintains his
mullet by trimming the front himself every couple of weeks, while his mum handles the rest
of the tricky business. Drummer Matt, who was expelled from school for joyriding a golf
buggy, is a professional skater.
In October 2018, The Chats brought their pub-punk (they prefer ‘shed rock’) to the UK,
where all their shows sold out within a day and were immediately upgraded, including a
memorable show at the Electric Ballroom, London, where they were joined onstage by
Charlie Steen from Shame. Not bad considering the teenagers had never left Australia
before. With two hundred gigs under their belts, The Chats began 2019 by signing a
publishing deal with Universal Records and started their own label records, Bargain Bin
Records
More music followed: single ‘Do What I Want’ (“about doing whatever the fuck you want”)
and the glorious follow-up ‘Pub Feed’ (a paean to “above average” pub food, including
“chicken schnitty”, “parmigiana” and “rump steak – well done”) in 2019, a song that seems
destined to take up residence in punk jukeboxes the world over. The Chats document the
simple things in life, with songs that transcends language to tap straight into the youthful
energy source. It’s a tricky artform that many attempt but at which few succeed. Still in their
teens, The Chats have mastered it.
Mozart began composing at the age of four, but these boys were born singing anthems, and
their debut album seems destined to be the greatest collection of music ever made, not only
in Coolum, Queensland, but the entire universe. Every other musician should probably give
up today.
Venue Information:
The Anthem
901 Wharf St SW
Washington, DC, 20024
theanthemdc.com