Social Distortion - HardTimes and Nursery Rhymes

Wed 2nd Mar, 2011 in Music Reviews

Social Distortion have had a long go of it on the rock scene, with their old songs holding true to their promise of punk fueled rock songs. So in the spirit of being absolutely transparent and clear: Social Distortion’s latest album, Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes, is a massive middle finger to rock and roll songwriting.

Each word Mike Ness sings is bound to make any listener lactose intolerant, because it’s so cheesy. The album is a testament to American country rock and roll that keeps bars in the south of Texas in business – with twelve bar blues guitar parts and lyrics speaking of that special gal brought home to a steak dinner at Ma’s place. For the masses whose music tastes haven’t developed, some fun and foot stomping might be had listening to this – but honestly it’s a bit difficult to get past the terrible lyrics and predicable melodies.

The instrumental opener Road Zombie is a perfect backdrop for a 1980s action movie chase scene. This leads into the second track, California (Hustle and Flow) and at this point the album hits a snag, because the band starts to sing. Musically the band is in decent form, with guitars belting out soaring tones and the drums carrying on with a solid one-two-three-and-four beat (although both not showing off anything new).

Ness has a pretty good voice actually, with his vocal range capitalised on for these simple songs. Harmonies often accompany him, making each chorus a bit richer. But when the lead singer goes on about his rock and roll life and how a black man ‘taught him to sing the blues’, it will make any listener groan in embarrassment. Granted the song is good line-dancing fodder, that doesn’t save it from being a predictable country and western number with nothing new on offer.

The same can be said for Gimme the Sweet and Lowdown and first single Machine Gun Blues, which are both musically fine but predictable rock n roll songs. Alone and Forsaken, the only cover on the disc, is composed of a decent melody and lyrics and marks the only decent song on the album. Such a shame the band could not direct the same energy into their own songwriting that they used to perform this song. But believe it or not, it gets worse – because then the ballads and love songs start.

Songs like Diamond in the Rough and Writing on the Wall are tedious to listen to, and make the album too much of an effort to warrant any lasting interest. Shades of the Happy Gilmore theme can be heard in the latter tune, with some songwriting that, while heartfelt, lacks any trace of originality. The weakest song on the album is Far Side of Nowhere, where the lead singer boasts about his simple life of driving around with his girl – and yes that’s literally the entire song summarised. In short, this is a lazy effort from Social Distortion and the songs here belong in the background of Lonestar commercials.