Orange County’s finest are back with a vengeance: Social Distortion’s long-awaited eighth album, ‘Born To Kill,’ will be released May 8th, 2026, via Epitaph Records.
‘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 (‘Rock ’n’ Roll Animal gonna come your way!’) and Iggy and the Stooges (‘The agenda is yeah to Search and Destroy’) and an homage to David Bowie (‘It’s a Rock ’n’ Roll Suicide’) 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 D ethos: “I wrote a song with a stolen riff / If you ain’t got a song you ain’t got shit.”
Co-produced by Ness and Dave Sardy, and featuring guest appearances from Benmont Tench of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Lucinda Williams and collaborative cover art by 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), the RIAA gold-certified ‘Social Distortion’ (1990) and ‘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. The tour kicks off in Oslo, Norway at Sentrum Scene on June 3rd, bringing the band’s signature sound to stages across Sweden, Germany, Czech Republic, Austria, UK, France, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Denmark and The Benelux.
‘Born to Kill’ tracklist:
01. Born To Kill
02. No Way Out
03. The Way Things Were
04. Tonight
05. Partners In Crime
06. Crazy Dreamer
07. Wicked Game
08. Walk Away (Don’t Look Back)
09. Never Going Back Again
10. Don’t Keep Me Hanging On
11. Over You
Upcoming European tour dates:
June 3rd – Sentrum Scene – Oslo, NO
June 4th – Sweden Rock – Solvesborg, SE
June 6th – Rock Im Park – Nürnberg, DE
June 7th – Rock Am Ring – Nurburg, DE
June 9th – Columbiahalle – Berlin, DE
June 11th – Rock For People – Hradec Kralove, CZ
June 12th – Nova Rock Festival – Nickelsdorf, AT
June 14th – Download Festival – Donington, UK
June 16th – Koko – London, UK
June 18th – Hellfest – Clisson, FR
June 20th – Azkena Rock Festival – Vitoria-Gasteiz, ES
June 23rd – Carroponte – Milan, IT
June 24th – Halle 622 – Zurich, CH
June 26th – Vainstream – Munster, DE
June 27th – Copenhell – Copenhagen, DK
June 29th – Amsterdamse Bos Theatre – Amsterdam, NL
June 30th – Docks – Hamburg, DE
July 2nd – Les Eurockéennes – Belfort, FR
July 3rd – Rock Werchter – Werchter, BE
July 4th – Rudolf-Harbig-Stadion – Dresden, DE