Social Distortion Reveal Title Track From Long Awaited Eighth Album “Born To Kill”

Orange County’s finest are back with a vengeance. Social Distortion’s long-awaited eighth album, Born To Kill, will be released on the 8th May via Epitaph Records, the band have also shared the hard-charging title track that’s been lighting up crowds at the band’s shows. Born To Kill is more than the conclusion to a 15-year wait between Social Distortion albums, it’s a revelation: 11 songs of pure, unadulterated rock ’n’ roll fury, joy and catharsis, all imbued with the signature blend of defiance and world-weariness that has made founder Mike Ness a poet and sage to the dispossessed for more than 40 years.

The first Social Distortion album since Ness’ recovery from a bout with cancer, Born To Kill brims with aggressive optimism. The album wastes no time letting the listener know where its heart is, with its title track and mission statement dropping nods to Lou Reed and Iggy and the Stooges and an homage to David Bowie following a few songs later on Partners In Crime. This is a man, a band and a record that wear their influences proudly while creating timeless anthems and ballads that both chart Social Distortion’s path forward and celebrate its storied past: Tonight and The Way Things Were are emotionally charged reminiscences in the vein of classics like Story of My Life from the band’s eponymous 1990 breakthrough and I Was Wrong from 1996’s White Light, White Heat, White Trash, the latter containing a potent distillation of the Social Distortion ethos.

Co-produced by Mike Ness and Dave Sardy, and featuring guest appearances from Benmont Tench (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers) and Lucinda Williams and collaborative cover art by Mike Ness and Shepard Fairey, Born To Kill is the latest installment in a remarkable catalog that spans nearly three generations, including Mommy’s Little Monster (1983), Prison Bound (1988), Social Distortion (1990), Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell (1992), White Light, White Heat, White Trash (1996), Sex, Love and Rock ’n’ Roll (2004), and Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes (2011). Social Distortion will support Born To Kill with an extensive European tour this Summer, including two UK dates at Download Festival and London’s Koko. The tour will also cover Norway, Sweden, Germany, Czech Republic, Austria, France, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Denmark, and Benelux. Social Distortion will then be touring North America with support from Descendents and The Chats.