Social Distortion are back, after 15 years without a full length, the Orange County veterans have announced their eighth studio album, ‘Born To Kill’, landing May 8th, 2026 via Epitaph Records.
The title track is out now, it’s loud, driving, and unmistakably Social Distortion, built on the kind of stripped back conviction that Mike Ness has been refining for more than four decades.
This marks the band’s first album since Ness’ recovery from cancer, that context matters as there’s grit in these songs, but also clarity. Co-produced by Ness alongside Dave Sardy, ‘Born To Kill’ leans into the band’s roots without sounding like a nostalgia act.
The title track tips its hat to Lou Reed and Iggy and the Stooges, while ‘Partners In Crime’ threads in a Bowie nod, it’s reverent without being stuck in the past. Social Distortion have always worn their influences openly, and here they double down rather than dilute.
Check it out below:
Elsewhere, ‘Tonight’ and ‘The Way Things Were’ tap into the same bruised reflection that powered ‘Story Of My Life’ and ‘I Was Wrong’, there’s a line in ‘The Way Things Were’ that sums up the band’s philosophy neatly: “I wrote a song with a stolen riff / If you ain’t got a song you ain’t got sh*t.” It’s self-aware, a little defiant, and entirely on brand.
Guest spots from Benmont Tench of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Lucinda Williams flesh out the record’s texture, while the cover art arrives as a collaboration between Ness and Shepard Fairey.
Fifteen years is a long stretch in punk terms. ‘Born To Kill’ doesn’t sound like a comeback begging for relevance, it sounds like a band that never left.
Social Distortion ‘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
Pre order here.
Follow me on Facebook:
MORE IN News
