Social Distortion: Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes (2011)

Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes is Social Distortion's first studio album in seven years. That type of delay isn't all that uncommon for a band that's released 7 albums in 30 years. As I noted in my rank of Social D's records, putting out records at that type of pace usually means they're of a very high quality. Hard Times is no different. Frontman Mike Ness knows what type of music the band excels at and doesn't ever have them stray too far from their established roots-punk sound. That's not to say that aren't any new wrinkles added to the fold this time around. The album opening "Road Zombie" is the first instrumental to make it's way to a Social D record and while The Rolling Stones have always been a giant influence on Ness, "California (Hustle and Flow)" and "Can't Take it With You" -- which also features some boogie-woogie piano --  utilize Exile on Main Street type gospel background singers for the first time in Social D's history.

The rest of the album checks all the traditional Social Distortion boxes. The bands usual songs about sensitive tough guys ("Machine Gun Blues"), survivor anthems ("Still Alive"), self-reflective ballads ("Bakersfield", Writing on the Wall") and punk covers of classic country songs (Hank Williams' "Alone and Forsaken") are all represented. The lack of differentiation from previous albums really doesn't matter when the songs are as uniformly strong as the ones on Hard Times. The band -- guitarist Johnny Wickersham, bassist Brent Harding and drummer David Hidalgo Jr. -- lay down the backing tracks with the expected Social D energy and style. (As usual) Ness makes the most of his limited vocal range by infusing the rock songs with toughness and the ballads with tenderness but there's more soul in his delivery than normal. The production is just a little bit too clean sounding for my tastes but that's a minor nitpick as there is no lack of power behind these songs.

Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes is yet another great Social Distortion album in a career full of great albums. Longtime fans will not be disappointed and anyone who hasn't had the pleasure of hearing Social D are highly encouraged to do so. This probably wouldn't be the first of their albums I'd give to a newcomer but it still is a fine showcase for the band

Ranking: 4/5

Track Listing:

1. "Road Zombie" - 2:21
2. "California (Hustle and Flow)" - 5:00
3. "Gimme the Sweet and Lowdown" - 3:23
4. "Diamond in the Rough" - 4:35
5. "Machine Gun Blues" - 3:33
6. "Bakersfield" - 6:25
7. "Far Side of Nowhere" - 3:29
8. "Alone and Forsaken" - 4:02
9. "Writing on the Wall" - 5:01
10. "Can't Take It With You" - 5:02
11. "Still Alive" - 4:05

Cage the Elephant: Thank You, Happy Birthday (2011)

Do you miss the alternative rock that dominated airwaves in the 90's? Cage the Elephant certainly does. They scored a fairly sizable hit last year with "Ain't No Rest For the Wicked" and while there's no song on Thank You, Happy Birthday that approaches that tracks instant gratification, it's a fine record nonetheless.

Cage the Elephant mashes up a lot of influences to create their brand of pure alternative rock. The music is a mix of some classic rock staples (Rolling Stones) but with the edge and energy of Nirvana or the Smashing Pumpkins. The drums sound huge, and the guitars even bigger. Vocalist Matthew Schultz sings and yells like he's paying Black Francis for the rights to sing in a Pixies cover band.  

Thank You, Happy Birthday certainly seems out of place in todays indie rock dominated rock landscape and they seem to realize it. "Indie Kidz" is a spastic slam of all things hipster, and the songs "2024," "Sell Yourself" and "Sabertooth Tiger," while not lacking in hooks, are pure garage rock rave ups. If I didn't know better it would be easy to mistake "Aberdeen," and "Around My Head" for covers of lost Pixies b-sides. While the heavy songs are the first to jump out at you, Cage the Elephant isn't afraid to calm down and show off their sensitive side. Both "Rubber Ball" and the album closer "Flow" are fine ballads. The first single "Shake Me Down" and "Right Between My Eyes" split the difference between the two extremes and are highly enjoyable pop rock tracks.

Before hearing Thank You, Happy Birthday, I was pretty skeptical of my chances of enjoying the album. I had only heard "Ain't No Rest" and while I enjoy that track greatly, it screamed one hit wonder to me. Thankfully Cage the Elephant is fully capable of making a full record of hard hitting and abrasive yet melodic alternative rock. There aren't too many popular bands out there currently making this kind of music and even though there's nothing too original going on, Thank You, Happy Birthday makes up for it with a rush of pure mid-90's style enjoyment. 

Rating: 4/5

Track listing:

1. "Always Something" - 3:41
2. "Aberdeen" - 3:12
3. "Indy Kidz" -5:02
4. "Shake Me Down" - 3:31
5. "2024" - 3:10
6. "Sell Yourself" - 2:11
7. "Rubber Ball" - 3:47
8. "Right Before My Eyes" - 3:14
9. "Around My Head" - 3:11
10. "Sabertooth Tiger" - 2:51
11. "Japanese Buffalo" - 3:03
12. "Flow" - 7:43

Weekend Video: Fishbone - "Everyday Sunshine"

I've had a pretty rough morning. Between waking up with a headache, a couple of job rejections and dropping a carton of eggs on the ground, the weekend can only look up. The hopeful start of the upturn may have happened when I heard this song for the first time in years. Early Fishbone is really good stuff and this is my favorite of all their songs. Try and be mad after watching it, it's just not possible.

Ranking the Albums: The Social Distortion version

For a band that's been around since the early 80's, Social Distortion doesn't have a whole lot of studio albums to their name. When Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes releases on February 18th, it will be only their 7th full length album in a 30 year history (frontman Mike Ness, the only remaining original member, has a couple solo albums to his credit). To celebrate that album releasing I will now perform a patented Shaft Went To Africa, I Went To Perkins album ranking post. One of the positives about only releasing a handfull of albums in a career, while still touring and writing on a fairly consistent basis, is that the quality will likely be very high. That is most definitely the case with Social Distortion's output. There are no bad records on this list, just some that I enjoy more than others.

For the purposes of this post Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes along with their rarities collection Mainliner: Wreckage From the Past and the live album Live at the Roxy will not be included.

Cake: Showroom of Compassion (2011)

I've never been a serious Cake fan and most of what I know of them consists of their singles. They're a band that I enjoy hearing randomly but I have never went out of my way to listen to one of their albums. One of my New Years resolutions (that I just decided on a couple days ago) was to update this blog more and with some stuff that I may not necessarily enjoy. This is my first attempt at that.

Cake hasn't released an studio album in seven years prior to Showroom of Compassion and vocalist/songwriter John McCrea has said the album would be a much different sound that previous releases. Since I've never listened to Cake intensely, I guess I can't say for sure that it's not different, but Showroom of Compassion sounds exactly the same as every cake song I've ever heard before.

That's not to say the album is bad, it's just more of the same. There's a lot of enjoyable stuff here. "Got To Move," "Sick of You" and "Long Time" could all be decent alternative radio hits and the more offbeat side of the band (though they're pretty offbeat in nature) is represented as well with the instrumental "Teenage Pregnancy," the slow country of "Bound Away" and the album closing "Italian Guy."

Showroom of Compassion isn't going to change anyones opinion of Cake. If you liked them before you'll like them now and if you didn't you still won't. It's a solid album from start to finish but I still don't see the need to seek out future Cake releases for myself.


Rating 3.5/5


Track Listing:

1. "Federal Funding" - 3:50
2. "Long Time" - 4:36
3. "Got to Move" - 3:40
4. "What's Now is Now" - 3:37
5. "Mustache Man (Wasted)" - 4:04
6. "Teenage Pregnancy" - 2:41
7. "Sick of You" - 3:18
8. "Easy to Crash" - 4:08
9. "Bound Away" - 3:25
10. "The Winter" - 4:06
11. "Italian Guy" - 3:11

Marshall Crenshaw: Marshall Crenshaw (1982)

Pop music can get a bad reputation in certain musical circles (i.e. snobs like me, or so I've been told) and for the most part it's well earned. Of course there are always exceptions and when pop music is done right it can be a thing of beauty. Marshall Crenshaw's debut album is such an exception. The music is pure guitar pop. The songs are all about girls and rarely go on longer than 3 minutes. The production is extremely clean but not overpowered by unnecessary touches. Crenshaw's melodies will bury their way into your brain and stay there for long periods of time. 

You can tell what the album is going to sound like just by looking at the cover photo of Marshall. It's Buddy Holly music filtered through Elvis Costello and covered with an early 80's sheen. The fact that this wasn't a giant hit in 1982 is a mystery to me and even though "Someday Someway" hit the top 40, the album never took off. Listening to it now, there are at least 4 songs that should have been all over the radio including the previously mentioned "Someday." The album opens with "There She Goes Again" and it's a perfect take on seeing your ex with someone else. "Cynical Girl" and "Mary Anne" both have ridiculously catchy melodies that belong on everyone's Ipod. The rest of the tracks are all very enjoyable as well, especially the rockabilly vibe of "The Usual Thing" and a faithful cover of Arthur Alexander's "Soldier of Love." 

It's never too late to discover great music that may have slipped through the mainstream cracks a bit.  I can't think of too many better artists and albums to do so, than Marshall Crenshaw.

Rating: 4.5/5

Track Listing:

1. "There She Goes Again" - 2:39
2. "Someday, Someway" - 2:53
3. "Girls" - 3:04
4. "I'll Do Anything" - 3:03
5. "Rockin' Around in N.Y.C. " - 3:10
6. "The Usual Thing" - 3:06
7. "She Can't Dance" - 2:47
8. "Cynical Girl" - 2:37
9. "Mary Anne" - 2:57
10. "Soldier of Love (Lay Down Your Arms)" - 2:39
11. "Not for Me" - 2:38
12. "Brand New Lover" - 2:39

Mid-Week Video: Drive-By Truckers - "Used To Be A Cop"

It's been a while since I linked any video's here but it's a new year which means a new plan to update this blog with inane content much more often. We'll see how long that lasts. Anyway I can't really think of a better band to start the new year off with than the Drive-By Truckers. I've written about them before, reviewed their albums, included them on best of lists and linked a previous video. They're one of my favorite bands and for the second time in a little over a year they have a new album coming out. Go-Go Boots releases on February 14th and I'm sure it will live up to the Truckers usually high standards. The video is for the song "Used To Be A Cop" and it's a great looking black and white film that showcases the band playing. Good stuff as always.



Used to Be a Cop - Go-Go Boots - Drive-By Truckers from Drive-By Truckers on Vimeo.