It's Sunday August 26th, 2007. Now that Moz has turned down the 75 million dollar reunion payday I'd like to offer to step in and manage the redistribution of those funds. I know it's a burden, but I'm pretty sure we could find 75 bands that would each take a million to reunite. Well, maybe 73 and then the staff here could get some sweet hovercrafts. Yeah.
The people must have something good to read on a Sunday Morrissey was in the news a few times this week, as the temperamental and influential singer / songwriter not only announced a fall US solo tour but turned down a $75 million offer to reunite the Smiths. After the PR blitz and last week's fiasco we figured Against Me! might want to lay low and give fans a breather, but they forgot to let Australian indie rocker Ben Lee in on the plan, and he launched an entire cover album that reproduced New Wave acoustically. Rolling Stone's bewildering mix of serious journalism and pop culture garbage touched on a familiar scene this week, as the mag investigated hardcore "crew" FSU and the James Morrison murder. The digital music scene continues to shift and evolve, with retail mega-weight Wal-Mart now launching a DRM-free online store. Fans of All and the Descendents were shocked to hear that bassist Karl Alvarez had suffered a heart attack this week and is now facing mounting medical bills.
On the touring front Big D and the Kids Table are planning to hit the road with Whole Wheat Bread and China's Brain Failure opening various legs of the jaunt. NOFX is heading to Israel, and while there will play shows with several Israeli punk bands including Useless ID and Man Alive. What's coming down the pipe? How about a double DVD live set from the legendary Ramones, a new studio album from Sweden's Millencolin, and Streetlight Manifesto's Somewhere In The Between LP. The next Tony Hawk skateboarding game will feature music from Gorilla Biscuits, Paint It Black and Snapcase among others, and Warped Tour head Kevin Lyman is set to produce the new movie "Endless Bummer." This week also brought new media from Atreyu, who streamed a few new songs, and Avenged Sevenfold who put up "Critical Acclaim" for the world to preview.
This week we were thrilled to announce the now sold out Mutiny PR / Punknews.org CMJ showcase with the Loved Ones, Tim Barry, Smoke or Fire, the Falcon, American Steel, Fake Problems and Sundowner.
The fifth edition of Vinyl File featured a chat with Team Science Records head Aaron Danger and previewed a ton of upcoming wax. Our Editor's Picks this week featured music from Halfway To Hell Club and the Sadies. We also streamed new music from longstanding DC ska act the Pietasters with the full album All Day. and a new track from third wave ska mainstays Mustard Plug.
Click Read More to see this week's contests, streaming music and more.
Radio Free Punknews
Check the Punknews Music page to stream all sorts of anticipated new music including the new full length from Philadelphia's Jena Berlin, the new record from Toronto's reggae-influenced three piece Bedouin Soundclash. Asian Man band The Hot Toddies, The Riot Before's upcoming EP, the return full length from 3rd wave ska act Buck-O-Nine, three songs from celebrated hardcore band Modern Life Is War, Dear Tonight's debut We're Not Men, UK based melodic hardcore act called the Steal, songs from Cobra Skulls' new Red Scare full-length Sitting Army, and six songs from the new Menzingers full-length.
Suntans are for Winners New Found Glory: From the Screen to Your Stereo, Part 2
In a few weeks New Found Glory will be marking their return to the independent world with the release of From The Screen To Your Stereo, Part 2. The album is a "sequel" to the band's popular 2000 release, From the Screen to Your Stereo. To mark this occasion, the band has provided us with a pile of commemorative swag and since our swag coffers are currently overflowing with major label payola as well as free Bentleys, we've decided to give it to you instead. Besides a copy of the new record, the band has provided some drumsticks used in the recording session, two vinyl records and more.
Win a guitar from Eisley
With their new album set to drop this week, Eisley, has decided to give one of you an acoustic guitar. Using it, you can start up your own folk/punk group, sign to a succession of ever larger indies before making the jump to a major label and freaking everybody out. The band's new record is titled Combinations and is due out August 14, 2007. You can catch Eisley on a whirlwind tour through the United States beginning in early September.
Staff Blogs
When not writing about music on the internet, many members of the Punknews staff find time to write about music on the internet. You can check out the depraved musings of Adam White at 2:59, Justin August has some Kinder Words for you, while Chris Moran's all over the place with content rocking both MySpace and Flickr. Reviewer Jesse Raub posts short fiction and web comics to Things That Go Bump In My Head and his zine Bitter Press.
Super Powers Enable Me To Blend In With Machinery
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, the Punknews.org Facebook Group, and contribute your listening habits to the weekly charts Last.fm group.
Come Join Us
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.