Fifteen years is a long time to wait. ‘Born To Kill’ makes it worth every second.
Social Distortion’s eighth album arrives May 8 via Epitaph Records, and the California punk legends have been methodical about how they’ve rolled it out. “The Way Things Were” is the third and final advance track, landing alongside the anthemic “Partners In Crime” and the title track, which has already surpassed 4 million streams in a single month. The new single carries the emotional DNA of Social D classics like “Story of My Life” and “I Was Wrong,” with a lyric that says everything about where Mike Ness stands: “I wrote a song with a stolen riff / If you ain’t got a song you ain’t got shit.”
‘Born To Kill’ is 11 tracks of rock fury and catharsis, co-produced by Ness and Dave Sardy, and it doesn’t arrive quietly. Rolling Stone called the band “still full of piss and vinegar,” and the record backs that up at every turn, namehecking Lou Reed, Iggy and the Stooges and David Bowie not as nostalgia but as a statement of lineage. This is a band that knows exactly where it comes from and exactly where it’s going.
The album features guest appearances from Benmont Tench of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Lucinda Williams, with collaborative cover art by Ness and Shepard Fairey. That’s a record that earns its packaging. ‘Born To Kill’ joins a catalog that includes the RIAA gold-certified ‘Social Distortion’ (1990), ‘Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell’ (1992) and ‘Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes’ (2011), a run that spans nearly three generations of listeners and shows no signs of slowing.
The band gives the title track its network television debut on Jimmy Kimmel Live on May 7, one day before the album drops. Then it’s straight into an extensive North American tour running through October 3 in San Diego, with The Descendents and The Chats supporting from August 25 onward. Multiple dates are already sold out, including both Los Angeles nights, Toronto, Detroit, Asbury Park, Las Vegas, Reno and San Francisco. Move fast.
‘Born To Kill’ Tracklist:
- Born To Kill
- No Way Out
- The Way Things Were
- Tonight
- Partners In Crime
- Crazy Dreamer
- Wicked Game
- Walk Away (Don’t Look Back)
- Never Goin’ Back Again
- Don’t Keep Me Hanging On
- Over You
Social Distortion North American Tour 2026:
July 17 — Montreal, QC — MTELUS
July 19 — Burlington, VT — Higher Ground Ballroom
July 20 — Portland, ME — State Theatre
July 22 — New Haven, CT — Toad’s Place
August 25 — Phoenix, AZ — Arizona Financial Theatre
August 28 — Austin, TX — Moody Amphitheater
August 29 — Dallas, TX — The Bomb Factory
August 31 — Nashville, TN — The Pinnacle
September 1 — Atlanta, GA — Coca-Cola Roxy
September 3 — Raleigh, NC — The Ritz
September 4 — Washington, DC — The Anthem
September 5 — Asbury Park, NJ — The Stone Pony Summer Stage (SOLD OUT)
September 8 — Philadelphia, PA — The Met Philadelphia presented by Highmark
September 9 — Boston, MA — Roadrunner
September 11 — Brooklyn, NY — Brooklyn Paramount
September 12 — Brooklyn, NY — Brooklyn Paramount
September 14 — Toronto, ON — HISTORY (SOLD OUT)
September 15 — Toronto, ON — HISTORY
September 17 — Detroit, MI — The Fillmore Detroit (SOLD OUT)
September 20 — Minneapolis, MN — The Armory
September 22 — Denver, CO — The Mission Ballroom
September 23 — Salt Lake City, UT — The Union Event Center
September 25 — Las Vegas, NV — The Chelsea at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas (SOLD OUT)
September 26 — Reno, NV — Grand Sierra Resort Grand Theatre (SOLD OUT)
September 28 — San Francisco, CA — The Masonic (SOLD OUT)
September 29 — Oakland, CA — Fox Theater
October 1 — Los Angeles, CA — Hollywood Palladium (SOLD OUT)
October 2 — Los Angeles, CA — Hollywood Palladium (SOLD OUT)
October 3 — San Diego, CA — Gallagher Square at Petco Park