Rating: NNN
There’s no ambiguity in the title of Mike Ness’s seventh Social Distortion studio release. In fact, it describes the album quite transparently. The hardscrabble punk legend counterbalances his familiar tales of personal-demon-battling with adulthood lessons he’s learned from parenting two sons. Has the Monster now become the Mommy?
In Writing On The Wall, 48-year-old Ness sings of his mixed emotions watching his son become a man who no longer sees his dad in a hero’s light. Mostly, though, Hard Times sticks to the usual Social D Nessisms: a Stonesesque groove on California (Hustle And Flow), an electrified country cover (Alone And Forsaken) and the still-standing anthem Still Alive.
This is his first time as producer, and you could argue that he neutered the band’s crunch to a degree. But it fits with the album’s mature mood.
Top track: Bakersfield
