Mike Ness of Social Distortion. Photo: Chris Miller/SocialDistortion.com
I don’t think I’m stepping out on too much of a limb here, but I endorse everything about Social Distortion’s approach to releasing their newest CD. Here’s why.
1. Although many talented artists have sculpted California’s coastal music scene, one could argue that nearly thirty years ago Social Distortion and Mike Ness gifted Southern California with a distinct musical identity. Orange County’s answer to Springsteen, if you will. It was a generous and well received deed (especially by our little surf community), and on January 18th, 2011, Social Distortion decided to update that gift with their newest release, Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes. That is good.
2. They’ve grown older, but they’re not disenfranchised technophobes. Actually, they’re quite the opposite. A week ago they released a live stream of California Hustle and Flow, a new track from Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes, and generated enough buzz to coast through their release window, but that wasn’t enough. At least, not for them. Today, they’ve offered fans worldwide an opportunity to listen to the whole CD from start to finish. It’s a ploy that’s becoming more common, but it was a bold move nonetheless. Confident. Commendable. It’s the exact approach a seminal punk band should adopt when dealing with the Internet, which is a tool at their disposal and not the other way around.
3. Continuing the trend of clever Internet marketing, Social Distortion announced that for every 100,000 streams the CD attracts online, the price of the record will drop a dollar. Bear in mind the fact that this record didn’t start out with an eighteen dollar price tag. We’re talking $12.99 (at the very most). That pretty much seals the deal. They respect their fans enough to let them know exactly what they’re getting into. They’re punk rocking the Internet, and they’re intentionally making their music affordable for the masses.
So without further ado, listen to Social Distortion’s first full-length release since 2004, Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes.
Social Distortion – Hard Times And Nursery Rhymes by Epitaph Records
