Soul Asylum’s Dave Pirner is not big on nostalgia — after all, the Minneapolis-based rock band released a brand new album, “Slowly But Shirley,” last year.

But after more than 40 years of fronting the group, the passage of time has not been lost on him.

“Y’know, it doesn’t get easier,” says Pirner, 60, who co-founded Soul Asylum in 1981 and remains the sole original member left in the lineup. “It’s kind of a grind. It’s different when you’re starting out because you’re just excited about everything and you have a much higher tolerance level because everything is new. You’re living a fairly miserable experience, but it’s an adventure.

“I’m grateful for all of it; it’s just kind of what I do and what I’ve always done and what I love doing. Sometimes it’s not fun at all, but I’m like, ‘Well, this is what I wished for my whole life, so shut up.’ And I much prefer this to digging a hole, I’ll tell ya that.”

“Slowly But Shirley,” Soul Asylum’s 13th studio album, came out in September and reunited the band with Steve Jordan, the current Rolling Stones drummer who also produced the band’s highly regarded 1990 album “And the Horse They Rode In On,” which preceded the double-platinum breakthrough “Grave Dancers Union.”

“It did mark a sort of progression, I think in Soul Asylum’s situation,” Pirner recalls.

“Slowly But Shirley” has 12 tracks that offer a mix of styles, from the punchy rock of “Freeloader,” “Trial By Fire,” “The Only Thing I’m Missing” and “Makin’ Plans” to the funky flavor of “Sucker Maker” and “Tryin’ Man.” “You Don’t Know Me” showcases the band’s mellow side, while “Freak Accident” features a bit of jangle.

“In this situation, each song was approached with the same sort of method, which was ‘Get out there and play it!’” Pirner says. “That’s kind of what’s always made punk rock so interesting; it does have this kind of ‘ignorance is bliss’ kind of adventure to it where it’s gonna come out sounding like your s***** band, but sometimes people try things they probably shouldn’t be trying, and something new comes out of that.

“It’s a discovery thing, which is the beauty of music.”