Social Code Drop The Pop-Punk, Return To Rock

Social Code's new album just came out yesterday, but do they have the balls to back an album called Rock 'N' Roll?

So far, the answer is yes. The band have abandoned the pop-punk flair found on tracks like 2004's "Beautiful" and traded it for something far more raw, as can be seen in first album single "Satisfied."

The Edmonton band took a step back and started seeking inspiration from the likes of Stone Temple Pilots, Bruce Springsteen, Led Zeppelin and AC/DC, bands that, for some reason, they had forgotten somewhere along the way.

"Every time we'd write a song, the way that we would decide if it was going to get on the record is we'd ask ourselves, 'Is that rock 'n' roll?' Does that fit into what we think rock is?' If we said yes, then that song made it on the record," vocalist Travis Nesbitt says from his Edmonton home.

"We started doing it with everything, even the photographer. 'Is that guy rock 'n' roll? Does he have the eye for it?' Even the album cover. By the time we were done we were like, 'The whole thing is rock 'n' roll, so we might as well just call it Rock 'N' Roll."

The evolution isn't too surprising considering 2007's self-titled album definitely upped the rock on tracks like "Everyday (Late November)," which suggested early signs of this new direction.

Social Code recently parted ways with Universal to do things more independently and hone their inner rock 'n' rollas. They hired producer John Travis (Kid Rock, Buckcherry, Sugar Ray) and flew him in from the warm Los Angeles weather to spend part of the winter recording in the band's chilly Edmonton basement studio.

"We've been in studios our whole life, but this is our third big studio recording and this one was the most exiting. It was the most fun. I don't want to say it wasn't a challenge because it was, but it wasn't a struggle. It wasn't a challenge to make it good; it was really fluid," Nesbitt says.

The band considers this record a throwback to when they formed and were still known as Fifth Season. They went by that moniker until 2003.

"We started as rock band. We were laughing about it today. When we started the band back in high school, we were drawing on those influences.

"When we became Social Code, we moved to Los Angeles and were inspired by lots of stuff that was happening at the time and to be honest we kind of got tired of that. We really didn't feel honest to put out another record that was kind of that pop punk kind of vibe," Nesbitt said.

You can catch Social Code at the following gigs as they support Rev Theory then perform as part of the Fire & Ice tour:

Sept. 22 Winnipeg, MB @ Pyramid w/ Rev Theory
Sept. 23 Regina, SK @ the Drink w/ Rev Theory
Sept. 24 Saskatoon, SK @ Ryly's w/ Rev Theory
Sept. 25 Edmonton, AB @ Northlands Agricom (Campus Chaos)
Oct. 9 Medicine Hat, AB @ Medicine Hat Arena (Fire & Ice)
Oct 17. Cranbrook, BC @ Multipurpose Rec. (Fire & Ice)
Oct 30. Grande Prairie, AB @ Crystal Centre (Fire & Ice)
Nov 1. Prince George, BC @ CN Centre (Fire & Ice)
Nov. 6 Saskatoon, SK @ Credit Union Centre (Fire & Ice)
Nov. 14 Brandon, MB @ Keystone Centre (Fire & Ice)
Nov. 28 Winnipeg, MB @ MTS Centre (Fire & Ice)
Dec. 5 London, ON @ John Labbatt Centre (Fire & Ice)