A lot of times when a band doesn’t change its sound over the years, it’s prone to becoming stagnant in its creativity and risks rehashing the same album in different incarnations. Then again, there is also the old saw that says one shouldn’t mess with a good thing. While Social Distortion’s new full length Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes recalls a lot of the same feel of past albums released by the California old-schoolers, it’s that trademark sound that has made them what they are and has kept them churning out gem after gem for over 30 years. In other words, they haven’t messed with a good thing. The fusion of punk and rockabilly that has given them their characteristic style thus far shines just as brightly in the new album as it did at their inception in the late ‘70s.

 

That being said, the guys have also proven that they are anything but sedentary and resting on their laurels. Indeed, each album Social Distortion has put out has successively been stronger than the last while retaining the same illustrious flavor. Hard Times is no exception. The second track, “California (Hustle and Flow),” is a perfect example of the way the band has used the color of their old sound to paint a new picture with solid imagery and sophistication. As frontman Mike Ness puts it, “With this record I wanted to go a little farther. I wanted people to hear that second track and realize, ‘Wow, this is not just another Social Distortion record.’” The homesick longing of “Bakersfield” and the emotional frustration in “Lost and Alone” then lace the album with a lot of the raw feeling that fills the band’s past catalogue. But Ness and the rest of the band, which includes guitarist Jonny Wickersham, bassist Brent Harding and drummer David Hidalgo, Jr., don’t go down without swinging. The final track “Still Alive” is an announcement of triumph in which Ness gives us the assurance “I’ve been to hell and back, I ain’t fallin’ off this track / From the back to the front page, from the gutter to the stage / I’m still alive and I will survive.”

 

Ness is unabashedly the genuine article when it comes to the punk rock sensibility of being true to the self and playing your heart out, even if it’s a broken one. “I write songs for myself,” he muses, “and I hope that other people will like them too.” It’s hard to find a more honest way to make music in a time when the industry is progressively changing and evolving in new (sometimes unsavory) directions. With Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes the current of the band has gained a momentum spanning four decades that seems to declare, “NO, this is what our music is, and this is how we want it to be heard.” One can’t help but to listen and agree with them. A | Jason Neubauer