Social Distortion have today released their long-awaited eighth album, ‘Born To Kill’, via Epitaph Records. The legendary SOCAL band have also dropped the lyric video for the track The Way Things Were.
An emotionally charged reminiscence in the vein of classics Story of My Life and I Was Wrong, The Way Things Were is a potent distillation of the Social D ethos, featuring lyrics like “I wrote a song with a stolen riff / If you ain’t got a song you ain’t got shit.”
Social Distortion will give that title track its network television debut, when the band returns to JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE! on Thursday, May 7th.
‘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 fury, joy and catharsis, all imbued with the signature blend of defiance and world-weariness that has made frontman Mike Ness a poet and sage to the dispossessed for more than 40 years.
Hailed by ROLLING STONE as “still full of piss and vinegar,” ‘Born To Kill’ wastes no time letting the listener know where its heart is: its hard-charging title track — surpassing 4 million streams in the weeks since its release — paying respects 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 lionizing David Bowie (“It’s a Rock ’n’ Roll Suicide”) 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 chart Social Distortion’s path forward while celebrating its storied past.
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 instalment in a remarkable catalogue 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).
‘Born To Kill’ IS OUT NOW – LISTEN HERE
With thanks to Diamond Creative Services
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