The Straight Dope from Epitaph

I just got off the phone with my pal at Epitaph Canada, who had a few things to tell me about the upcoming offerings from the worlds biggest punk rock label. First of all, the upcoming Rancid, still self-titled, is apparently pretty hard stuff; definitely not for the pop-punk fans. Which sounds cool to me. It's always good when a band tries different things, and Rancid has had the opportunity to do a lot of different things really well. Also, June will feature both the big new NOFX release and, exactly one week later, the new Punk-O-Rama, on June 13th. Last of all, the sub-label of Epitaph, Anti has apparently gone on a signing rampage, including a release of records by Tricky(?) and Buju Banton(????). Strange things are afoot these days. Oh, and don't forget the big Epitaph Releases this month. All, Internation Noise Conspiracy (with Dennis from Refused) and