10 Best Pop-Punk Records

Emerging from the hardcore scene of the 1980's, Social Distortion had a bit of a different bent than their counterparts. The band's debut Mommy's Little Monster has some tendencies from the hardcore genre like punchy production and rapid-fire power chords, but the melodies of these songs are a delightful change of pace.

On songs like the title track and "Another State of Mind," vocalist Mike Ness delivers a ferocious vocal performance that sounds like a lion's roar. While his singing is absolutely slamming, the band also employs vocal harmonies into the mix of some of the tracks which give them a unique touch. These songs are like Beach Boys tunes if interpreted by a band like Black Flag.

These unique touches had a trickling down effect into later pop-punk, where harmonies were used constantly to give each track an even bigger sound. It also opened up different avenues for punk vocalists who had a more melodic tunefulness to their voice that wasn't always screaming. Social Distortion would go on to greater heights with hits like "Ball and Chain" and "Story of My Life," but this debut etched the band's name into pop-punk history forever.