Mike Ness Plays 'Journalist' on New Social Distortion Album

Fittingly, 'Sex, Love and Rock 'n' Roll' found Ness reflective and ready to seize the day -- moods he tells Spinner are likely to resurface on Social Distortion's long-awaited follow-up, which he began recording earlier this month.

"I'm sure there will be some of that resonating through it, definitely," the punk icon says, days after cutting a dozen tracks for which he's yet to write lyrics. "But at the same time I don't want to be repetitive or redundant. When I'm writing a new record, I have to really be careful about rewriting stuff I've already written. That's what makes it extra challenging -- I have to come up with new things to write about."

While Ness is rarely repetitive, he does tend to pen the same types of songs -- hard-luck stories about making mistakes, owning up to them and trying to move forward. An economical songwriter, he does a lot with a little, stringing together simple chord patterns and hard-boiled language, often emerging with modern classics.

He says his songs are autobiographical, and that the positivism of his recent output -- a contrast to the boozing, brawling bravado of his '80s and '90s albums -- is the result of changes in his life.

"It would be silly if I was doing the same thing I was doing 30 years ago," Ness says. "It has to evolve. It has to mature. It has to refine."

"As you get older, you get wiser, and I find that you can get inspiration from positive things in life, too, not just the negative," he adds. "There are plenty of things I'm unhappy with in this world right now, but I think there are positive things to impart as well. My job is kind of like yours -- I'm a journalist, too."