SOCIAL DISTORTION Releases 'The Way Things Were', Third Advance Track From Upcoming 'Born To Kill' Album

SOCIAL DISTORTION has released "The Way Things Were", the third and final song to be released in advance of the band's long-awaited eighth album, "Born To Kill", out May 8 via Epitaph Records.

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."

"The Way Things Were" can be heard alongside the anthemic "Partners In Crime" and the album's previously unveiled title track below.

SOCIAL DISTORTION will give that title track its network television debut, when the band returns to "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" on Thursday, May 7. Check local listings for further details.

"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 four million streams in the month since it dropped — 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.

The track listing for "Born To Kill" is:

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

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 promote "Born To Kill" with an extensive North American tour, featuring support from THE DESCENDENTS and THE CHATS. The tour recently added four new shows in July, and runs through October 3 in San Diego. THE DESCENDENTS and THE CHATS support from August 25 through October 3. Support for the July dates is to be determined.

SOCIAL DISTORTION North American tour 2026:

July 17 - Montreal, QC - MTELUS
July 19 - Burlington, VT - Higher Ground Ballroom
July 20 - Portland, ME - State Theatre
July 22 - New Haven, CT - Toad's Place
August 25 - Phoenix, AZ - Arizona Financial Theatre
August 28 - Austin, TX - Moody Amphitheater
August 29 - Dallas, TX - The Bomb Factory
August 31 - Nashville, TN - The Pinnacle
September 1 - Atlanta, GA - Coca-Cola Roxy
September 3 - Raleigh, NC - The Ritz
September 4 - Washington, DC - The Anthem
September 5 - Asbury Park, NJ - The Stone Pony Summer Stage
September 8 - Philadelphia, PA - The Met Philadelphia presented by Highmark
September 9 - Boston, MA - Roadrunner
September 11 - Brooklyn, NY - Brooklyn Paramount
September 12 - Brooklyn, NY - Brooklyn Paramount
September 14 - Toronto, ONT - HISTORY
September 15 - Toronto, ONT - HISTORY
September 17 - Detroit, MI - The Fillmore Detroit
September 20 - Minneapolis, MN - The Armory
September 22 - Denver, CO - The Mission Ballroom
September 23 - Salt Lake City, UT - The Union Event Center
September 25 - Las Vegas, NV - The Chelsea at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas
September 26 - Reno, NV - Grand Sierra Resort - Grand Theatre
September 28 - San Francisco, CA - The Masonic
September 29 - Oakland, CA - Fox Theater
October 1 - Los Angeles, CA - Hollywood Palladium
October 2 - Los Angeles, CA - Hollywood Palladium
October 3 - San Diego, CA - Gallagher Square at Petco Park

Photo credit: Jonathan Weiner