09 February 2011
When a band like Social Distortion releases their seventh record a good twenty years after their debut, there's never much expectation for a groundbreaking change of pace; but after a six-year hiatus (following their album Sex Love and Rock 'n' Roll), you do at least expect SxDx to come back with the same fervour. Their latest offering,Hard Times & Nursery Rhymes does just that.
The record opener is wholly instrumental, falling in line withMillencolin's Machine 15 and Muse's Absolution, but without the tacky centrepiece. The years have been kind to vocalist Mike Ness, his more pronounced rasp on tracks like Machine Gun Blues andCalifornia (Hustle & Flow) only make for a more raw singing-whilst-gargling-razorblades sound. It's the kind we've come to enjoy from punk bands coming out of Southern California.
The four-piece have adopted a few country and blues elements this time around though; the '90s guitar heavy track, Far Side Of Nowhere,about escaping monotony in your pick-up truck and Diamond In The Rough, a vintage Social D track, are both laced with classic rock and soul sensibilities.
Hard Times & Nursery Rhymes is the kind of punk powerhouse that would have been a leading addition to the records fired out of late '80s So-Cal. In 2011, Social Distortion have proven through their six-year spell and junked-up blues rock, that good things really do come to those who wait.
Hard Times & Nursery Rhymes is out now through Epitaph Records.
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