Recent Release: Social Distortion-Hard Times And Nursery Rhymes

It's been about five or six years now, so it must be time for a new album by Social D.!

Social Distortion have returned with a new album that finally delivers on the hinted promises of their previous releases. Starting out life over thirty years ago as a teenage punk rock band, over the years Mike Ness and co. have been dropping in little bits of Americana, Blues and even Pop Rock here and there throughout thier career. Sooner or later it had to culminate into one disc and this is it.

The punk rock greaser heart is still beating strong but it has been supplemented with a Stones-like swagger. After the punk/surf instrumental opener "Road Zombie" we get a song straight out of the Jagger/Richards mold called "California (Hustle And Flow), complete with back-up singers and everything. Doesn't sound right on paper but it works well.

The album moves along in more or less similar fashion until the middle when it's slow down time. The 70's blues rock influenced "Bakersfield" is technically a good song but brings the proceedings to a halt here. Perhaps it's the vocals. Ness still sounds like a snot-nosed California punker, which works most of the time, but is a bit of a hindrance here as that approach doesn't really lend itself to conveying the emotion called for by the song. The "Stones-al D." style misses the mark in a few other places like the relatively bland "Machine Gun Blues" (Social D. light to me) and "Writing On The Wall".

Fortunately things pick back up for the last two tracks, the rollicking "Can't Take It With You" and last blast statement "Still Alive." Also of note is a punked out version of the Hank Williams classic "Alone And Forsaken" which may be the key song of the whole disc.

So overall a quality release. Some longtime fans may complain about what they see as a softening up of the band, but I disagree. It's not going soft so much as expanding the sound. "Hard Times And Nursery Rhymes" is probably the ideal starting point for newbies and a treat for open minded fans.

Rating: 4 out of 5 Daves.