Originally part of the same hardcore scene as Adolescents and Agent Orange, they changed style after a mid-1980s hiatus while frontman Mike Ness went into rehab.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For the past 40 years they have been blending rock ‘n’ roll, blues and country influences with the spirit of punk, selling three million albums along the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Their most recent release, 2011\u2019s Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes<\/em>, confirmed their status as torchbearers for what might be called the outlaw punk scene, and although Ness promised there wouldn’t be another seven or eight-year gap between albums, life got in the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He was diagnosed with tonsil cancer, and it was only after winning that battle that he returned to the task of finishing what became the eighth studio record, Born To Kill.<\/em> It finds him in reflective mood, as well as full of defiance, and over the course of 11 tracks, Social D re-affirm their claim for a seat at punk’s top table.<\/p>\n\n\n Ness has been quoted as saying he had over 40 songs to choose from, but wanted to write the record of his career, and not just rush something out for the sake of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Joined by long-time bandmates Jonny Wickersham on guitar and Brent Harding on bass, the line-up is completed by David Hidalgo Jnr (ex-The Bronx, Suicidal tendencies) on drums, who’s making his recorded debut despite being in the band since 2010!<\/p>\n\n\n\n It bursts into life with lead single and title track Born to Kill<\/em>, and it’s clear from the off that SXDX mean business. Over crunching guitars and a locked-in rhythm section, Ness warns in his trademark rasp: “I\u2019m the underdog who ends up on top\/The rebel poet with the peacock strut\/Gonna make a change, gonna rearrange\/Look out man you\u2019re in my pissing range!”<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"social](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ipamusic.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/social-distortion-2025-pic-by-jonathan-weiner.jpg?resize=640%2C427\")