Social Distortion's last album was 2011's Hard Times And Nursery Rhymes, and this week the SoCal punk icons finally announced its followup Born To Kill, arriving May via Epitaph. The title track is out now.
It's the band's first album since leader Mike Ness beat tonsil cancer. At a listening party in LA on Tuesday, the group played the LP in full and Ness was interviewed by Epitaph head and Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz. Bad Religion’s first show was opening for Social Distortion at an Orange County warehouse in 1980. “It wasn't really an industry back then,” Ness said of the bands' overlapping early years. “It was a movement.” To cap off the night, Social D performed a stripped-down version of the album track “Tonight” — “the first time we’ve played it in this setup,” Ness said — plus a handful of oldies.
Born To Kill was co-produced by Ness and Dave Sardy, and it features guest appearances from Benmont Tench of Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers and Lucinda Williams. Social Distortion will tour the UK and Europe this summer before kicking off a North American run with support from the Descendents and the Chats. Check out the dates below along with the "Born To Kill" video directed by the great Lance Bangs.
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 Goin’ Back Again"
10 "Don’t Keep Me Hanging On"
11 "Over You"
TOUR DATES:
08/25 – Phoenix, AZ @ Arizona Financial Theatre *
08/28 – Austin, TX @ Moody Amphitheater *
08/29 – Dallas, TX @ The Bomb Factory *
08/31 – Nashville, TN @ The Pinnacle *
09/01 – Atlanta, GA @ Coca-Cola Roxy *
09/03 – Raleigh, NC @ The Ritz *
09/04 – Washington, DC @ The Anthem *
09/05 – Asbury Park, NJ @ The Stone Pony Summer Stage *
09/08 – Philadelphia, PA @ The Met Philadelphia presented by Highmark *
09/09 – Boston, MA @ Roadrunner *
09/11 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Paramount *
09/12 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Paramount *
09/14 – Toronto, ONT @ HISTORY *
09/17 – Detroit, MI @ The Filmore Detroit *
09/20 – Minneapolis, MN @ The Armory *
09/22 – Denver, CO @ The Mission Ballroom *
09/23 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The Union Event Center *
09/25 – Las Vegas, NV @ The Chelsea at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas *
09/26 – Reno, NV @ Grand Sierra Resort - Grand Theatre *
09/28 – San Francisco, CA @ The Masonic *
10/01 – Los Angeles, CA @ Hollywood Palladium #
10/02 – Los Angeles, CA @ Hollywood Palladium #
10/03 – San Diego, CA @ Gallagher Square at Petco Park *
# The Descendents support
* The Descendents and The Chats support
Born To Kill is out 5/8 via Epitaph. Pre-order it here.
