Unlocked Mike Ness

When the members of Wank say that Mike Ness pushed them in the recording studio, they mean it.

While working as a producer recently on the Huntington Beach band’s track for the irreverent “A Punk & Ska Christmas Gone Wrong” compilation (Drive-Thru), Ness walked over to singer-bassist Bobby Amodeo and jostled him. Again. And again.

“I’m thinking, ‘I’m going to get killed!’ ” Amodeo recalled. “I was getting bullied by Mike Ness. Look at those tattoos!”

Amodeo had nothing to fear. His attacker, better known as the front man of Social Distortion, was merely trying to agitate the vocals on Wank’s revved-up cover of “Auld Lang Syne,” a revival with a third verse of original lyrics: “It’s been 12 months of misery / I just can’t get enough / I’ve spent all my money / This year’s been a bust / Got to cash out my Nova / And harden up my heart / And try to sleep it off. . .”

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Ness approached Wank in the fall, after a Wank show at Linda’s Doll Hut in Anaheim. The group was floored that O.C. punk legend Ness knew about them, let alone liked them.

As the 1997 debut album, “Get a Grip on Yourself,” attests, Wank’s reggae/ska-tinged punk takes an often ruthless, tough-guy approach with lyrical content, if not always with delivery. Amodeo has a heartfelt, rounded tone that recalls Elvis Costello, but Ness’ goading brought out a grittier side. The finished “Auld Lang Syne” almost sounds as if Ness is singing.

In fact, listeners may mistake the playing on “Auld Lang Syne” for Social Distortion. “It’s almost the same three chords as [Social Distortion’s hit] ‘Bad Luck,’ ” Ness explained. “It’s unfortunate, but that folk format is very similar to quite a few Social Distortion songs. There’s no way to get around it.”

The second song on which Ness and Wank collaborated betrays no such influence. Based on the death of a childhood friend of Wank songwriter-guitarist Danny Walker, “Larry Brown” will be released today on the Laguna Beach label Time Bomb as a single; it features O.C.-L.A. band 22 Jacks on the flip side.

Ness picked “Larry Brown” off a badly recorded Wank tape, on which it was the last and least audible track. “But by the first eight measures,” he said, “I knew this was the song to use. It just needed a little fine tuning.”

Ness and Wank started working on “Larry Brown” during the full force of December rainstorms that flooded the area around Time Bomb’s studio. “My car slid all the way to the front door because of the mud,” said guitarist Steven “Billy” Bivens.

With two sessions completed, Ness and Wank plan to team up by the end of the month for another round of songs at Time Bomb, perhaps to add on to the demo Wank will send out to shop for major label interest. If things continue to go well, Ness might even produce their next record.

“I’m not easily impressed,” he said. “It’s not every day that a band catches my ears. Putting three chords to a melody and not sounding generic is not that easy to do.”

Partly because he loves the band, which also includes drummer Danny “Spider” Amodeo, Ness offered to produce Wank for free, though he does stand to benefit. He hopes to expand his repertoire and become a producer-for-hire during Social Distortion’s down time.

After seven years with Sony, Social Distortion asked to be released several months ago from its contract. That move freed up the band members’ immediate schedule and gave them cause to consider starting a label for the sole purpose of releasing their own records.

“Now, for the first time in my career, I can do the other things I want to do, in addition to the band,” Ness said. “It’s a relief, really. We don’t need that much to make a great record or to tour.”

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Social Distortion plans to perform several dates in mid-February at the Roxy, as well as an annual spring gig at Oak Canyon Ranch (“We don’t play Orange County near enough,” Ness said). Meanwhile, Ness is concentrating on writing new material, getting to know Wank better and getting more production experience.

“I don’t know the [studio] equipment; I just know what I want,” Ness said. “It can take engineers years to learn to plug all the stuff in, and that’s not the area I need, or want, to know. I don’t believe in samples and effects to make bands sound bigger or like gods of thunder. If I had my choice, we’d all use analog and vintage equipment, so the song has to speak for itself. I just go by my ears.”