Artist: Social Distortion
Album: Hard Times And Nursery Rhymes
Genre: Punk
Label: Epitaph

As a band with around thirty years in the music industry, Social Distortion should perhaps be showing signs of slowing down. However, this couldn’t be further from the truth with their seventh release, Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes. With its instrumental opener through to the positive, and very catchy, closing track ‘Still Alive’, Social D prove not only their relevance, but why they’ve become so revered and have lasted this long in an industry obsessed with youth.

Each song on Hard Times And Nursery Rhymes is rich and well produced with the capacity to stand alone or together, which is not something that is easily achieved by any band. With a heavy reliance on electronics or post-production on instruments in most newly released music, Social Distortion’s sound is still remarkable and has an edge that is all their own (without all the bells and whistles that newer bands seem so fond of). The lead single, “Machine Gun Blues,” is a perfect representation of this as its driving opening that serves as precursor to the entire record.

Carrying a sound that is best described as The Bouncing Souls crossed with Bruce Springsteen, Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes is a throwback to how music used to be, smooth but with a certain rawness that computers just can’t duplicate. Perhaps it is because of the fact they were around when the aforementioned artists found success, but it’s refreshing to see a band sticking to their roots and representing their sound so wholly. So many bands try to remain true and end up sounding like faded copies of themselves, but Mike Ness and the rest of Social D have found the punk fountain of youth and continue to drink from it throughout Hard Times And Nursery Rhymes.

Score: 9/10
Review written by: Naomi Carson

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James Shotwell

James Shotwell is the founder of Under The Gun Review. He loves writing about music and movies almost as much as he loves his two fat cats. He's also the co-founder of Antique Records and the Marketing Coordinator for Haulix. You should probably follow him on Twitter.

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