Album Review: Social Distortion’s “Hard Times And Nursery Rhymes” By Aaron Rhodes When singer and guitar- ist, Mike Ness started Social Distortion, known as just “Sovial D’ to fans, in 1978 | doubt he thought his band would end up playing on TV talk shows or touring the world but that’s what they've been doing the last few years. Even though they have been stars in the California punk scene for years, with their 2014 release, Hard Times And Nursery Rhymes, Sooial D bursts into the main- stream The album opens up with the hard hitting all- instrumental intro track, “Road Zombie’, that really gets the ball rolling and sets the tone of the album. The next song, Cali- fornia (Hustle and Flow) is a very bluesy song, definitely a standout track It starts out slow like any other blues song, along with chorusdike back- ground vocals, but close to the end the tempo picks up and it tums into a real “cowpunk” song, a style Social D has been a pioneer of for years. In next couple tracks, “Gimme The Sweet and Low- down” and “Diamonds In The Rough’, singer Mike Ness shows off his voice, which hap- pens to be pretty sweet and well-tuned compared to other punk singers, while still being able to deliver a good grow! when he needs to The next track, and the album's first single, “Machine Gun Blues’, | think really cap- tures the theme of the album ‘and what the whole album’s all about. It's easily one of the best songs on the record and even made it to #42 on Bill- board's Alternative Song chart. The song “Bakersfield” opens with a slow guitar rif, some piano, and the phrase from earlier in the album from the song, “California”, “Take me on down the line.” It’s a long and slow ballad song about “being stranded here in Bakersfield” and it's one of my favorites on the album. If “Bakersfield’ gets you down, “Far Side of Nowhere” is there to pick you back up with more of an upbeat. fun to lis- ten to song. “Alone and For- saken’, originally by country music star Hank Williams, is @ dark and somewhat heavy track compared to most of the album. This, to me, is Mike Ness’s shining moment on the album, nailing every note and doing a great cover while still showing his own style. “writing On The Walls” is another ballacike emotional song but isn’t one of the best on the album and is pretty slow and boring. Track #10, “Can't Take It With You" is instrumen- aeteeoeiow| on i tally a great track but the less than stellar lyries and cheesy background vocals ruin it for me After @ couple poor tracks, the final track, “Still Alive’, acts as a great sum- mary for the album and puts everything into per- spective and gives the al- bum a grand finish, laced with guitar solos and piano melodies. | think this album will be remembered as one of the best of 2014 and is definitely one any rook fan should go out and buy! Album Rating: tris Go pick up a copy and support an independent record storenear you! Also, see Social D live on May 3rd at The Beau- mont Club in Kansas City, MO. 30 ArPAaAoY