It's Sunday July 30th, 2006. Ladies and gentlemen we have a new editor here at Punknews.org, re-introduce you to Chris. You folks know him better as Sickboi, a long time contributor, reviewer and the videographer behind our Video Of The Week features. Chris went above and beyond as a contributing member of this community, so we're thrilled to officially welcome him to the team. Expect unfair coverage of bands from RVA from this point on.
The people must have something good to read on a Sunday
What a week this was! The online punk world was shocked to learn that music from white power band Skrewdriver was being sold on iTunes, so Punknews.org went to the source and spoke to the president of retailer CD Baby about the controversy. There was more internet controversy in the U.S. as a bill was passed to restrict access to "social websites," this one included. In the most bizzare news of the week an early member of influential punk act Lifetime was charged with possessing human remains. The border is always an issue for North American touring acts, and the dangers were shown this week as Canadian band the Grey were banned from the US for 5 years. On the touring front Underoath dropped off Warped Tour while Bad Religion unveiled dates for their US trek. We had news on upcoming albums including a four CD epic from Thrice and the debut from post-Blink-182 act Plus 44. A few popular acts unveiled new projects, as My Chemical Romance's Gerald Way announced a comic book series and Fall Out Boy revealed plans for charity-benefiting toys. Looking for new music? How about Strike Anywhere's "Prisoner Echoes" and the Falcon's "Lay-Z-Boy 500."
This week we talked to a number of bands, including Modern Life Is War (interview), Black Flag's Henry Rollins (interview) and the Living End (interviewed by Terry from Ryan's Hope).
Click Read More to see this week's streaming music, contests and other highlights.
Radio Free Punknews
Check the Punknews Music page for to check out new music from Toronto's Kover, Spring, TX's O Pioneers!!! and Huntington, NY's Take My Chances among others.
Suntans are for Winners Win the Lujo Records Discography
Hailing from the nation's capital by way of Louisiana, and now in their fifth official year of genuinely independent existence, Lujo Records has amassed a celebrated and diverse catalogue of releases spanning from bone crushing hardcore to lush, atmospheric pop. Fortunately for you, label owners Erik Aucoin and Jocelyn Towers have decided to give away a copy of everything the label has ever pressed to one lucky winner.
Helmet (Signed Guitar) Helmet recently released their first record for Warcon Enterprises. The record is their first since 2004's Size Matters and the latest in a series of highly influential records. For the record, the band aimed for a return to their classic sound, and worked with Strap It On and Meantime collaborator Wharton Tiers. To celebrate this latest record, the band has decided to give away signed a custom Page Hamilton Signature series ESP guitar.
The Bronx (Ouija Board)
Despite our obvious love of instruments and high tech gizmos, one thing we always love giving away is weird, unique swag. In this case, our friends in The Bronx want to celebrate the release of their Island Records debut, The Bronx by giving two lucky winners the most accursed of prizes. That's right, we're giving away two Ouija Boards! And not just any Ouija Board, but unique Bronx-themed boards that coincide with the artwork of their album.
Dead To Me Contest Dead To Me recently released their new album Cuban Ballerina on Fat Wreck Chords. To celebrate the band and label are giving away a few prize packs to some lucky Punknews readers. The grand prize winner will even get their hands on some super secret vegan recipe's straight from the kitchen of Dead To Me's Chicken.
Life at Disconnect
We've theorized that you visit other websites out there, and we know it can be tough to leave the calming blue glow of the `Org, so we'll help by infecting the rest of the web with Punknews content. Waste some time on the Punknews.org and Punknews Records MySpace pages or contribute your listening habits to the weekly charts Last.fm group.
The Call Up
Why register on Punknews.org? Registered users can rate bands and reviews, building recommendations and links between artists for the whole community to share and discover. Users get their own profile page showing recent comments, top rated bands and favourite records and more. So go ahead, cast off the cloak of anonymity and create your account today - it's free, easy and private.