Social Distortion Drop First Album in 15 Years Born To Kill

Social Distortion just broke a 15-year silence. The SoCal punk legends announced Born To Kill, their first album since 2011's Hard Times And Nursery Rhymes. It drops May 8th via Epitaph Records and honestly, this feels like the punk rock moment we've been waiting for.

The title track is streaming now and it sounds exactly like what you'd expect from Mike Ness and crew. Raw, unapologetic, and completely authentic. This is also the band's first album since Ness beat tonsil cancer, which makes the whole thing even more meaningful.

The Album Details

Ness co-produced Born To Kill with Dave Sardy, and they landed some serious guest spots. Benmont Tench from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers shows up, plus Lucinda Williams. The album artwork comes from Ness and Shepard Fairey, which should give you an idea of how much thought went into this thing.

At a listening party in LA this week, Social D played the entire album and Ness got interviewed by Brett Gurewitz from Bad Religion. Gurewitz runs Epitaph, but more importantly, Bad Religion's first show was opening for Social Distortion at an Orange County warehouse back in 1980. "It wasn't really an industry back then," Ness said about those early punk days. "It was a movement."

Tour Dates You Need to Know

Social Distortion hits Europe and festivals first, including Download Festival, Hellfest, and Rock am Ring. Then they're bringing the Born To Kill tour to North America starting August 25th in Phoenix.

The support lineup is perfect. Descendents and The Chats are joining most dates, which means you're getting three generations of punk rock in one night. The tour hits major markets like Brooklyn (two nights at Brooklyn Paramount), Los Angeles (two nights at Hollywood Palladium), Austin, Nashville, and wraps up October 3rd in San Diego.

Artist presale starts February 25th at 10am local time with code BORNTOKILL. General tickets go live February 27th through Ticketmaster.

Why This Matters

Social Distortion has sold over three million albums worldwide and they're basically the Rolling Stones of hardcore. A 15-year gap between records would be huge for any band, but when you factor in Ness's cancer battle and recovery, this album feels even more significant.

If you haven't seen Social Distortion live, this tour is your chance. They're one of those bands that just hits different in person, and with new material plus all the classics, these shows are going to be special. Don't sleep on tickets when they drop.

Cover photo courtesy of Ticketmaster