Two years after the release of ‘Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes,’ Los Angeles punk warriors Social Distortion are still on the road — and they managed a nice surprise for fans at a Dec. 15 show in Los Angeles, when bearded guitar legend Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top joined the Mike Ness and Co. on stage to play “Drug Train.”

A year after the release of ‘Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes,’ Los Angeles punk warriors Social Distortion will head back out on the road yet again for another massive string of shows, this time a planned 33-date North American tour that stretches from late January to early May.

Social Distortion continue to tour in support of this year’s ‘Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes,’ and have just announced their latest slate of dates, including some festival slots, a pair of concerts with twang-rockers The Avett Brothers, seven arena shows with the Foo Fighters and a handful of headlining club dates.

The Social Distortion gang goes gangster in this new music video for ‘Machine Gun Blues,’ the lead-off single for the band’s 2011 album ‘Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes.’

With its new album ‘Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes’ arriving in stores yesterday, Social Distortion dropped by ‘Conan’ last night to rip through the record’s lead single ‘Machine Gun Blues.’

This week’s new releases include ‘Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes,’ the new album from Social Distortion; a 3CD ‘Omnibus’ reissue of The Fall’s ‘This Nation’s Saving Grace’; and the vinyl-only ‘Head on the Curb,’ a collection of Mudhoney outtakes and demos.

Fans of Social Distortion today got another taste of the L.A. punk warriors’ forthcoming ‘Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes’ this week with the premiere of the track ‘California (Hustle and Flow)’ on the L.A. Times’ Pop & Hiss blog.

After 30 years, Social Distortion finally made their TV debut last night on ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!,’ performing new single ‘Machine Gun Blues’ and the classic ‘Story of My Life.’ Watch ’em here.

Los Angeles punk icons Social Distortion today announced that their seventh album — ‘Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes’ — will be released Jan. 18 on Epitaph Records and preceded by the release of first single “Machine Gun Blues” via iTunes on Nov. 9.