LISTEN/MUSIC: More Previews From Social Distortion's New Album

With the release of Social Distortion's new record Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes just around the corner on January 18th, here's two more tracks from the album to preview. Most will recognize "Diamond In The Rough" from Social D's live shows of the last couple years, while "Still Alive" is a deeper album cut.

Social Distortion - Diamond In The Rough

Social Distortion - Still Alive

The album marks a noticeable progression in Social Distortion's sound, incorporating even more elements of country, blues, and roots music. The instrumental "Road Zombie" and it's placement as an opener almost pays homage to the Social Distortion of the past suggesting "that is where we come from, but this is where we are going." Mike Ness has been lucky enough to find a true musical compatriot not once but twice in his career, first with Dennis Dannell and now with Johnny Wickersham. Their crafted, yet effortless feeling interplay shines throughout the album. Meanwhile, bassist Brent Harding and drummer David Hidalgo, Jr. weave in subtle fills at just the right moments. It may be one of the most "band" sounding albums Social Distortion has ever released.

If Social Distortion's early records focused on the pain of Ness' childhood, the most recent albums reveal Ness as an older, wiser, and more expansive songwriter enjoying the rewards of a loving and stable family life. The walls and protective barriers a younger Ness built around himself, have started to come down. There's breathing room now. Those wishing for a sequel to 1996's White Light White Heat White Trash will probably be left disappointed. But if taken as the next chapter in the narrative of Mike Ness as an artist and a person, the Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes album is much more interesting.

Social Disortion has become like the old friend you used to run with as a teenager. You might only see them once every couple of years. They might be a little different than you last remember, they might even surprise you a little. But there is still that special something that binds you together. And either way, it's always good catch up with them when they come around.

LISTEN/MUSIC: 2 New Social Distortion Songs - New Album Jan. 18th

Social Distortion releases their seventh studio album Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes on January 18th, 2011.

Social D's last album Sex, Drugs, and Rock & Roll was released in 2004 which puts the band pretty much right on track for releasing new material every 7 years or so. If that strategy has proved anything it's concise albums with tight, catchy, road tested songs.

So what's Social D got in store for us this go round? Their latest single Machine Gun Blues is one indication. It's available on iTunes now but you can give it a preview here:

Social Distortion - Machine Gun Blues

Pretty much tried and true Social D, nothing wrong with that. But more shocking is California (Hustle & Flow) which reveals more than ever The Rolling Stones influence on Mike Ness. Not sure how I feel about this one, sounds like a Black Crowes outtake but points for branching out I guess.

Social Distortion - California (Hustle And Flow) by Epitaph Records

Also of note, Mike Ness steps into the role of Producer for the first time in his band's history and reveals a much slicker sound than any previous Social D album. Most will recognize "Road Zombie," "Diamond In The Rough," and "Bakersfield" from the bands live performances in recent years as well as "Can't Take It With You" complete with call and response soulful backup vocals. There's also a punked up cover of Hank Williams "Alone & Forsaken." Ness' and guitarist Johnny Two Bags country-fried influences are well apparent with no shortage of slow burning tales of heartbreak and pain to round out the album. All in all a new and interesting road for Social D to take that might have some long time fans scratching their heads.

The album is available January 18th in multiple versions: a limited edition double red vinyl release, a double black vinyl release, a regular edition CD and digi-download version, and a deluxe edition digi-download version via iTunes.

The deluxe iTunes release features 3 bonus tracks one of which is a tune called "I Can't Run No More." For many Social D fans it's something close to the holy grail, the song was performed only a few times on the bands 1997 tour and people have been begging for it to be released ever since. A live version has floated around for years but a studio version could very well make some people shit their pants, myself included.

So thanks Social D, I'll be buying your new record in triplicate - at least.

PHOTO CREDIT: I don't know who took the photo above but good job, that's a great pic. If it's yours and would like me to take it down just say so.

PHOTO CREDIT UPDATE: Wouldn't you know a photo as awesome as the one above would be taken by none other than Danny Clinch. I should've known.

LISTEN/MUSIC: Social Distortion's Lost Album

When Social Distortion's fifth studio album White Light, White Heat, White Trash was released in September of 1996, critics and fans alike hailed it as a return to the SoCal band's punk rock roots.

The band's previous two albums, 1992's Somewhere Between Heaven & Hell and 1990's self titled release, explored the band's interests in country, roots, and 50's rock & roll. White Light was a record influenced more by The Dead Boys than Johnny Cash. 

Two years prior in 1994, Mike Ness entered a New York City recording studio and laid demos for what would eventually become White Light. These demos however were far different from the final release version of the album. Some songs would end up on White Light, some would see release on Mike Ness' 1999 solo record Cheating At Solitaire, while many of the songs recorded during those NYC sessions would remain officially unreleased. When eleven of the tracks were leaked nearly ten years after their original recording, fans caught a rare glimpse into Mike Ness life circa 1994 and his writing process for Social Distortion.

"Love Me Tonight" features Ness as a closed off world worn outsider pleading for love but warning to any who may answer of the darkness he carries inside. With themes similar to White Light's lyrically stronger "Through These Eyes," it was left off the final album.

"Crown Of Thorns" would find it's way onto the final release in a slightly more fleshed out version but the lyrically weak "Like You Never Done Before" would not. "Lost and Found" a fantastic acoustic charged dark country slow burner could be interpreted as the seedling for "Winners and Losers" from 2004's Sex, Love, and Rock & Roll. Next, apparently taking a page from Dee Dee Ramone's book, "Got Nothin Comin" features Ness punk-rapping over a hip hop beat and female soul backup vocals. It's most likely intent nothing more than a studio experiment. "Do It Again" could have easily served as a b-side, it's not great but it's certainly not a bad song.

A highlight of Ness' first solo record, "Dope Fiend Blues" addressed Ness' years of drug addiction more directly than ever before. This starkly haunting acoustic demo, stripped of the final version's tough guy machismo, showcases the gutwrenchingly honest lyrics - it's all pain and shame here.

Social Distortion - Dope Fiend Blues.

"I'm In Love With My Car" would also find release on the first solo album with different lyrics, a slightly altered arrangement and increased production, while "Don't Drag Me Down" would become both an album and live performance favorite.

Which leaves two songs from the session, both of which remain unreleased.  "Can't Hide" contains some of the most personally revealing lyrics about Ness' childhood years and family situation fans have ever seen from the writer:

... Jesus, god, are you there?
I get the feeling, you don`t care.
There`s a pain deep inside, I can run, but you know I can`t hide

... You need a license to drive, but nothing to raise a child
And your alcoholism and fear run deep in my blood
And the welfare lines are always longer at the first of the month

The "album's" closer returns to a lyrical theme found throughout many of the 1994 demos, a plea for love. "Don't Keep Me Hangin On" is a direct indicator of the songwriting style Ness would adopt for the next Social Distortion album, released nearly 8 years later. 2004's Sex, Love, and Rock & Roll would reveal a much happier Ness in the newly found comforts of a loving and stable family. In 1994, all that was far on the horizon for Mike Ness. But in "Don't Keep Me Hanging On," he was already dreaming of it.

Social Distortion - Don't Keep Me Hangin On

 

FULL DOWNLOAD: Social Distortion - Lost Tracks: The 1994 NYC Demos

NOTE: If you hold the copyright to any of the materials posted on this site, please contact me and I will immediately and with out contest remove the material in question.

LISTEN: Joe Strummer's London Calling

When I was about eleven or twelve I went on a record buying CRUSADE. I'd already had a good solid base with my dad's record collection. But I needed more. We had a good player and they were much cheaper to buy than CDs so naturally I bought everything in sight.

Back then there were three places I got my records. Sound Exchange had awesome stuff - bootlegs, rarities, imports, everything. But it was so overpriced I rarely was able to buy anything. For a while Flipside II Records was my go to spot. Run by a guy named Don Diego, who more than once tried to get me to join his self started religion of which the revered deity was none other than Don Diego himself, had all kinds of good stuff and was cheap. But I stopped going there when Don Diego refused to sell me a signed promo poster for Social Distortion's "Somewhere Between Heaven & Hell" that I had found buried in the bowels of the store. He didn't even know he had it, it was buried in there since the damn album came out. The last place was this local record show that was held on Sundays in the local fire department rec room (they held some semi legendary Jersey basement shows there too) and I would bug the hell out of my mom to let me check it out after church. They had everything, it was cheap, and most importantly it was close enough to walk back to if my mom refused to stop. Later on I'd graduate onto the big leagues and make the trip to Curmudgeon or Vintage Vinyl but most of my early record purchases came from that show.

Maybe that's where London Calling first came into my possession. I'd like to say I was walking down the aisle of some record store and a beam of light from heaven came down and showed me the path to salvation but really London Calling just kinda came into my possession. It wasn't immediate love at first listen. It's alot of music to ingest and while the cool kids may have been enamored from first listen, it had to grow on me. But pretty soon after it was all Clash all the time. Singles, imports, demos if it had The Clash written on the cover I bought it.

Like everyone else, I was totally captivated by Joe Strummer not only by his words and music onstage but in his interviews offstage. Strummer had a way speaking that made you want to get up, get out and do something. The rhythm and the cadence of his speech held pure unfiltered passion. He completely understood the power of radio and television as a mean of communication, a purpose it is used for less and less today. If Joe Strummer was being interviewed on the radio you could be damn sure he had something to say.

Instead of going to college I worked in a independent record store for six years, not some Coconuts. Even with our knowledgeable clientele, I was surprised to find how many people didn't know The Clash. We'd put it on both customers and some employees would ask "What's this?" It was almost guaranteed that if The Clash was playing on the overheads, someone was gonna by one of their records. When Joe Strummer passed in 2002, my friend Joe Porter and I played Streetcore everyday for two weeks.

In his years post-Clash, Strummer wandered the world soaking up it's peoples and cultures. Always with ears wide open, Strummer kept his finger on the pulse of music. His solo work and collaboration with the Mescaleros brought an eclectic mix of world music, punk, and rock&roll. But it was it BBC World Service radio program London Calling that showed us just how amazing a soul Joe Strummer really was. His combination of hand selected tracks, nimble wordplay and vaudevillian antics made for an endlessly entertaining half hour. It was the most logical step in Joe Strummer's quest to bring the sound of the streets and it's people to the masses.

If you go on Itunes you can download for free, the Americanized versions of Joe Strummer's London Calling BBC radio show. While it is eight parts long, it's a condensed and edited version of Srummer's original broadcasts. We all know Joe Strummer was great but we don't need the announcer telling us that every five seconds. So gathered here are all known recordings of the unedited original broadcast versions of Strummer's London Calling on the BBC World Service. At times the audio quality leaves something to be desired but the content is undeniable:

DOWNLOAD: BBC World Service: London Calling with Joe Strummer

I'll close this little tribute with a quote from Joe Strummer that closes the end of Julien Temple's beautiful documentary, The Future Is Unwritten. It all right there in a couple of sentences, the soul of the man and it brings me to tears every time I hear it:

"I'd like to say people can change anything they want to; and that means everything in the world. People are running about following their little tracks. I am one of them. But we've all gotta stop... just stop following our own little mouse trail. People can do anything; this is something that I'm beginning to learn. People are out there doing bad things to each other; it's because they've been dehumanized. It's time to take that humanity back into the centre of the ring and follow that for a time. Greed... it ain't going anywhere! They should have that on a big billboard across Times Square. Think on that. Without people you're nothing."

NOTE: If you hold the copyright to any of the materials posted on this site, please contact me and I will immediately and with out contest remove the material in question.

NEWS: Irving Plaza Is Now Irving Plaza

In probably the smartest move Live Nation has ever made, as of June 23rd the Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza will go back to it's beloved name, Irving Plaza. Guess that mouth garbler didn't catch on.

It may seem like a small thing, a name change, but to alot of us it was a big thing. Irving Plaza had been Irving Plaza since the early nineties, certainly since I had been going there.

Every show that has ever mattered in my life was at Irving Plaza, both ones I saw and ones I missed. Defining moments for me occurred on the wooden floors of its hall. Every band that has every made it anywhere has come through Irving at some point, it's a watermark.

Some standouts in my times there:

• From the drunken years, the time I helped my friend Mike down the stairs to the bathroom after our older friends got us totally plastered next door at the premiere dive bar 119. I got Mike into the stall and figured I could go for pee so I headed over to the urinal forgetting to unzip my fly before letting go. I had to cover that disaster with a t-shirt from the merch table upstairs.

• More drunken years, the time I blacked completely the fuck out mid conversation on a girl I had a huge crush on and ran into at the show. Saw her a couple times later but she never talked to me again.

• Greg from the Bouncing Souls covering Folsom Prison Blues the night after Johnny Cash left us.

• Mike Ness convincing some kid to come on stage, call his boss, and tell him he wasn't coming in to work the next day because he spent all night with Social D. 

• The Face To Face Farewell show I missed because I was out of the country, every Face To Face show I didn't miss.

Irving has long been my favorite venue in the city. It has the best sound, the best shows, the best vibe. Once Live Nation took over, they started booking different types of music. I didn't go as much. But every once in a while one of my favorite bands come back to Irving Plaza, maybe for the same reasons I used and we'd all relive the old days.

A couple of years ago, my girlfriend took a job in an office across the street from Irving. As I waited for her to get out of work, I'd stare at the kids in line and remember all the times I stood in the same spot. A spot I'll probably be standing in again some time. It's good to have the old place back, even if it's just in name.

PHOTOS: The Golden Coast

I'm back. And even better, with some new pics. A couple of weeks ago, Steph and I took a trip out to LA to visit some of her friends, my sis, and a much needed break from NYC. Unlike my last trip to LA, I was parking- ticket- and Dept. of Homeland Security- hassle- free. Maybe having someone who knows the area makes for a better experience.

My Mom happened to be out there visting my sister as well, so on our second day we headed out to Catalina Island. An hour boat ride off the California coast, Catalina Island is an interesting place. Obviously you have to have a shit ton of money to live there or have been an original resident from back in the day. The houses are huge and beautiful. There are a very limited amount of cars on the island, you have to have lived there for at least 15 yrs to qualify to own one, so most people get around on golf carts. One of the main attractions for me was the Catalina Casino. A leftover from California's art-deco past, the Casino features a grand theater and the largest dancehall-in-the-round in the world. Typically, we missed the once a day behind the scenes tour by an hour.

While most of Catalina Island is pretty frou frou we ate lunch at the one place that is decidedly not, El Galleon. Some type of Spanish pirates meets mardi gras theme restaurnant, El Galleon dates back to the 50's and a more modest Catalina. I was immediately attracted by the "Hawaiian Luau Smoked Ribs Special" banner that hung in the window. The World Cup played on every one of the place's ten or so large screen TVs. The ribs were retarded good and they had authentic framed pinup art hanging over the urinal, ripped straight from a varga calendar circa 1953. The whole thing reminded me of the restaurant in the John Candy classic Summer Rental.



Let's be honest, most of this post is gonna be about eating. I'm only good at a couple of things in life. I guess I'm pretty good at photography but what I'm really good at, is eating. We saw alot of cool places and alot of good people but most likely it was all on the way to where or with whom I was gonna get my eat on. So with that out of the way let's talk about a little something called In-N-Out.

All anyone from the west coast ever talks about is In-N-Out, like it's the second coming or something. Don't get me wrong it is good fast food. It's really good fast food, but it's still fast food. Regardless, thanks to the In-N-Out's secret menu I was able to order their famous burger "protein style" and keep things gluten free thus keeping the alien living in my stomach from clawing it's way out for one more day. In-N-Out became my go to place for grub when we weren't aware of any nearby gluten free options. When in doubt, In-N-Out. We even found the goddamn In-N-Out University where they train the upper echelon of the In-N-Out workforce, more on that later.

I'd never been to the Getty Museum. But now I can't wait to go back. The building alone is beautiful enough, you could spend the whole day just walking around the outside. But I was even more blown away by the Jean Leon Gerome exhibit inside. I'm not much into paintings. They just don't strike emotion in me the same way a photograph does but these paintings were amazing. The color, the composition, the subjects - it all blew me away. As we were leaving I snapped one of my new favorite pics. The Getty sits atop a mountain and a tram carries you from the parking area below up to the museum proper. Waiting on the platform to go back was a Dad and his two sons and I managed to capture a great little moment.



One day we headed out to La Crescenta where Steph grew up for a hometown tour. Until informed otherwise, I could have sworn they shot The Karate Kid there (the original fuckers - Jaiden Smith, wtf it's all about the Macchio son). In fact most of the places we went to looked and felt like an 80's movie. Joselito's Mexican restaurant, yep. Good food though and margaritas the size of a fishbowl. Then there was the bar in Montrose. I don't know what it was called but we met a friend of a friend from Arizona and another kid named Dan, who asked me how I'd been, like he knew me my whole life cause I said "What's up man?" An awkward "I said what's up MAN, not what's up DAN" conversation ensued. By the end I decided I liked the kid and wished I had known him my whole life. Back to the bar, if they had pulled away the wall next to us to reveal a soundstage, I wouldn't have batted an eye. The fact that they didn't creeped me out. This place was straight out of the backlot. I tried to rock the jukebox but they have that stupid one where it shuffles your picks into the playlist instead of playing them all in a row, thus preventing any bullying. Lame. We left before I heard half of them.

Venice Beach is full of drugged out leftovers and boardwalk "artists." I've seen enough of them in my life so I wasn't impressed the first time I went there and I wasn't this time either. Maybe it's cause I didn't see Tony Alva skateboarding down the walkway. As far as I'm concerned, there are only two artists in Venice Beach. One of them paints ceramic skulls and one of them wears a halloween store alien mask.

Javier from Los Calavera, along with his daughter, has been hand painting ceramic skulls day of the dead style since 1999. His designs are unique and inventive and have spawned shallow imitations along the Venice walkway. I got one of his skulls the first time I was out there and specifically headed back to Venice to get another. If you find yourself in the area look for him and buy one of his wonderful skulls. They are cheaper than you would think.

Then there is the alien guy. While every other "artist" in Venice is peddling their shit with "No Pictures Unless Donation Signs" in front, the alien guy is a true creative genius or bat shit crazy. I'm not sure which one. Basically he sits just off the main walkway in an alien mask and black robe. People walk by, stop to take photos, kids poke and he never flinches. The only reason I know he's real is because I saw him walk up and sit down. He doesn't ask for money and he doesn't have a tip cup. He does it just to do it. Brilliant.



If you've ever had a Pink's hot dog then you know why it's been in business for 75 years. No matter what time of day you go, there is gonna be a line. But it's worth the wait. I did throw them just a little when I asked for a chili dog with no bun. The guy kind of looked at me for a sec and then said "Ok buddy, what ever you want!"

Hollywood is full of every movie cliche there is. So I don't need to post pictures of things you've seen a hundred times. In fact one of the only pics I took in Hollywood was that of Tommy Udo's footprints in front of Graumman's Chinese Theatre. If you've never seen Kiss of Death, do yourself a favor and watch it, that and every other movie with Richard Widmark in it.

Union Station is really just a train station, but it's a beautiful one. The art deco architecture of Los Angeles' past is harder and harder to find these days and Union Station is a must see. Right across the way is Olvera Street, the birthplace of Mexican culture in Los Angeles. Olvera Street combines restaurant's, marketplace vendors and museums to present a history of Mexican culture in Los Angeles. We bought a beautiful handpainted pottery serving dish and one vendor had more Luchedor masks than I'd ever seen before. Unfortunately, my fat head didn't fit in any.

On our last full day, we headed east to Pomona for SoCal Speed Shop's Annual Open House event. Once a year SoCal Speed Shop opens it doors and lets the public behind the scenes at the legendary garage. What should have been a hour drive, turned into a 4 hour journey due to LA's famed freeway traffic. We dropped off the freeway chasing an alternate route and ended up on a road called Hamburger Way. Soon we stumbled upon the big enchilada: the In-N-Out distribution center, company store and In-N-Out University. It was an In-N-Out paradise. Our spirits and bellies refreshed we made the last stretch to the SoCal Speed Shop and words cannot express how cool it was.



The morning of our flight back home we joined my sis and mom for breakfast. We planned to go to the Potholder Cafe where we had gone a couple of days before and encountered a particularly spunky waitres. But we ended up going to the similarly named but altogether different Coffee Cup Cafe. I've really grown to like Long Beach. It's got a good vibe and cool places like former Social Distortion drummer Chris Reece's bar The Pike. I hope my sis will stay there for a little while. This trip to the west really changed my attitude about California. The last time out, I kind of hated it. This time out, I'm wondering what it might be like to live there for a little bit. Maybe down the road.



Click the header pic above to check out all the rest of the pics from LA.

A note for the nerds: These pics mark my crossover to the world of Canon. Spurred by Canon's line of innovative HD-DSLRs, I decided to make the switch. All the color pics were shot on the Canon 7D with a 2.8 24-70mm L series lens or a 1.4 50mm lens. All the B&W pics were shot with a Canon EOS 1V-HS, the above listed lenses, and Ilford Delta 400 Pro B&W film stock.

The 7D takes some great looking images, the level of detail is amazing. But nothing beats film. That B&W Ilford stock is breathtaking. And Canon glass.... whew.

With my health getting better, I'm excited to get back to shooting and really use these cameras to their potential.