October 28th, 2007

It's Sunday, October 28th, 2007. It's deeply touching to know that I can take a few weeks off and my absence will cause all manner of chaos. There's nothing better for one's ego, I can assure you. Fear not my children, I've cleaned up the debris, we're having the blood steamed out of the carpet, and the long road to recovery begins. Mighty Mighty Bosstones' reunion shows just has us giddy. Those Hometown Throwdown tickets are selling for exorbitant prices, resulting in an additional New Years show to be planned. However the good news didn't end with the shows, it looks like the band will also record a few new songs for upcoming collection. It wasn't all reunions this week, as we've seen both the Blood Brothers and Some Girls removed from play. The Brothers are calling it a hiatus for now, at least until the end of the year. Some Girls split sounds a little more concrete though.

As the underground file trading scene reeled from the shut down of Bittorrent site OINK we continued to hear arguments and hand wringing from all sides of the downloading debate. New releases are on the way next year form everyone from prog monsters the Mars Volta (keep an eye out in January) to pop idols Fall Out Boy (and they're promising that it'll be bizarre). Popular act Finch is back together for a show this November as well. We had videos from Streetlight Manifesto, who unveiled the animated "We Will Fall Together" and Against Me!, who rocked the montage with "Up The Cuts." Slightly more interesting than that band's photo essay was the recent police response to someone playing a "Baby I'm An Anarchist" cover. This week also saw tour dates announced for the Evens. Look for Ian MacKaye and Amy Farina to hit the road this November.

This week saw the passing of Paul Fox (1951–2007), guitarist for influential reggae punk act the Ruts, following a battle with lung cancer. The scene also continued to mourn the loss of J Church frontman Lance Hahn (1967–2007). The Fest may be wrapping up in Gainesville but the The Fest 6: A Free Compilation is still available for download. The collection of 25 songs comes courtesy of Punknews.org & No Idea Records. Video of the Week featured… ––> The fourteenth edition of Vinyl File featured a second look at the vinyl history of NOFX. We also streamed music from the full length Never Suspend Disbelief by New Jersey's One Win Choice, rock'n'hardcore act The Revenge, featuring former members of Stereotyperider, and the new EP from Intro5pect featuring Stza of Leftover Crack

October 21, 2007

Who's steering this thing? I have no clue. Since Adam is on vacation carousing around the East Coast of both Canadia and the People's Republic of America we're lost without a rudder. A car without a steering wheel. A bike without a stem!

He's obviously the wittiest of us editors, so we'll just skip to the wrapup. Sorry about that folks.

The people must have something good to read on a Sunday

As always, anything about the clean and narrow lifestyle known as Straight Edge brings out people's debating fingers and this year's wish of Happy Edge Day was no different. Coming from the opposite direction, tricksters NOFX released a song from their upcoming live album without all their blabbing. Thanks Mike. Blender took some shots at punk icons like Greg Graffin, Henry Rollins and…Panic at the Disco in their "Worst Lyricists EVAR!" article. Some other well known folks joined forces to form The Innocent while on the other end of the "cred spetrum" Fall Out Boy's Pete Wentz to open Clandestine store in Chicago The much loved Latterman made it o–fficial this week, they are no longer alive. As a band. All the guys are doing just fine. On the other hand, there's a Kurt Cobain biopic in the works. Looking to record in another country? Better mail that home, since Homeland Security seems to be confiscating solo projects.

This week's Vinyl File looked at Rarities and upcoming releases. Oh, and there was some hubbub about a detailed schedule of THE FEST being posted. Whatever that is.

ps: The Mohawk Toupée? Almost as ridicuous as Universal's plan to sell singles on USB drives(FOR TEN DOLLARS!).

We got a little Hot Water Music love (cough) and a new video from the Weakerthans.

October 14th, 2007

Adam is away this week so the entire planet fell to pieces. With the remaining shards, we've assembled this latest look back at the week in Punknews.org.

The people must have something good to read on a Sunday

It was hard to miss the news that 10th level Vice President Al Gore won the Nobel Peace Prize, nor was it possible to avoid the jubilant fans of The Mighty Mighty Bosstones who agreed to reunite for five shows. Lots of piss and vinegar was sent in the direction of Green Day courtesy of Johnny Rotten but returning the favour was Blender who took on the Sex Pistols, Tom Waits, Sting and the Beach Boys. Some people had nicer sentiments in mind, like Billie Joe of Green Day who sent fond wishes to Al Gore on his win while encourageing people to contact Congress.

Though not exactly known as a charity, Taco Bell gave Strike Anywhere, Ted Leo, Big D, Panthers, Armor for Sleep free food but Ted didn't want it. There was still some craziness in the ever increasing music industry shakeup, this time with Nine Inch Nails who celebrated their first time being without a contract in 18 years.

October 7th, 2007

It's Sunday, October 7th, 2007. For the next two weeks I'm on vacation, first heading down to Boston to clean up all the hardcore crew violence then travelling north to Nova Scotia to find where Blake Schwarzenbach's been hiding. So what does that mean for your trusty Gazing? It means some other sucker editor will have to will step up and take the reins. Who will it be? Will they go mad under the pressure? Tune in next Sunday. Radiohead completely changed the game with the announcement of their new record, an album for which you can pay whatever you want for. Sure, Bomb The Music Industry and other have done that for years, but their actions don't quite get the world talking about it. This kicked off a week of, well, navel gazing among music fans and insiders. A member of Throwdown chatted about downloading with pundit Bob Lefsetz, encouraging people to bury the label. Perspectives came in on the problem with leaking albums and why former music buyers are jumping ship.

Against Me! talked briefly about the incident in Tallahassee and conflicts with their early fans. The band was also, um, paid tribute to by a Dirty Deitrich cover of "Stop." Strung Out joined the list of ripped off bands, with their van and trailer stolen in Philadelphia. Taking Back Sunday fans fretted at the departure of guitarist and co–vocalist Fred Mascherin. Glen Matlock has asked Johnny Rotten not to swear at upcoming Sex Pistols gigs. We had news on a number of upcoming releases this week. NOFX posted the track listing for "They've Actually Gotten Worse Live," A Wilhelm Scream released new music from Career Suicide, Nirvana's unplugged is finally headed to DVD, and a Johnny Cash Tribute was announced that will feature Chuck Ragan, Russ Rankin of Good Riddance and the Loved Ones.

Oh, and despite what you may have heard Ian MacKaye's not dead. We talked to Chris #2 from Anti–Flag this week (interview). Our Video of the Week featured part five of our video countdown to the Fest 6. This week we checked a performance from melodic hardcore act No Trigger. The tenth edition of Vinyl File featured a chat with Jacob Bannon, singer of Converge and owner of Deathwish Inc. We also streamed music from the grand return of American Steel and their new full length Destory Their Future, as well as The Great Deceiver, a trio featuring Tomas Lindberg, formerly of influential metal act At The Gates.

September 30th, 2007

It's Sunday, September 30th, 2007. I've made it a tradition that I don't actually write intro blurbs on the last day of September. Look into it, I'm not lying. , Universal or Starbucks? Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon voiced her opinion, responding to fans riled by the band's partnership with the coffee giant on an upcoming favorites collection. I suppose that's no less weird than the Sex Pistols reuniting to re–record "Anarchy in the UK" for the video game Guitar Hero III. My Chemical Romance turned a few heads when Gerald Way riled against the "emo" label that his band's often stuck with. The peer–to–peer war escalated this week as well, with BitTorrent site The Pirate Bay going on the offensive and launching lawsuits against the European divisions of the major labels. Does it make you feel old to know that the Beastie Boys are now eligible for the Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame. The band was indeed recently nominated.

We had word on a number of new records this week. NOFX provided the first details on their upcoming live album, unveiling the cover art and nailing down a release date. Anti–Flag is set to enter the studio soon with producer Tony Visconti to record their sophomore major label full length. The band also released the track "Corporate Rock Still Sucks." Paint It Black wrapped up their new full length and chatted about it and, well, us. Asian Man also announced plans to reissue work from the Lawrence Arms and the Broadways on vinyl. We saw new videos this week from the Gaslight Anthem ("I'da Called You Woody, Joe") and Avenged Sevenfold ("Almost Easy"). A Wilhelm Scream released a batch of new media promoting their new record, but lost a guitarist along the way. Streetlight Manifesto announced a tour alongside Suburban Legends and the Stitch Up. Finally, because we enjoy horrifying you, we have Fall Out Boy performing Green Day's "Basket Case" and Paramore tackling At The Drive–In's "One–Armed Scissor." Our Video of the Week featured part four of our video countdown to the Fest 6. This week we checked out a video interview with Dan Yemin of Lifetime and event founder Tony Weinbender of No Idea Records . The ninth edition of Vinyl File featured the second and final part of our look at the vinyl output of modern punk favourites the Alkaline Trio. We also streamed music from Teddy Duchamp's Army, a Pittsburgh, PA–based band that saw members go on to form/join Anti–Flag, Don Caballero and Voice in the Wire.

September 23rd, 2007

It's Sunday, September 23rd, 2007. Now that the Canadian dollar has reached parity with the greenback we can reverse the brain drain of Canuck talent to the States. That goes for Punknews editors too. Chris, Brian, Justin, Meg: come home to Tuktoyaktuk. Your mother misses you.

September 16th, 2007

It's Sunday, September 16th, 2007. We're really dipping into the surreal with the names of our massive killing machines lately. MOAB and FOAB are really only a step away from MODOK. Anyways… evolution of Warped, punk rock and more. The end of the road for Chicago's Spitalfield is in view, as the Victory act embarks on their final tour this fall.

I don't really want to keep making fun of your new band, Tom, but the art for the new Angels and Airwaves record looks like the movie poster to some 80s space opera, with you in the role of the galactic chosen one. A Wilhelm Scream had a bit less of a star–messiah vibe with the cover to Career Suicide. We had hints from No Doubt about their upcoming record, which may just turn out to be more ska and less BANANAS. it also seems that Panic! At the Disco have scrapped their new LP. They're trying again though, which is good or bad news depending on how you look at. On the video front we had footage of the Foo Fighters and Serj from System of a Down performing "Holiday in Cambodia", Bad Religion performing live on Conan O'Brien and Fall Out Boy's new clip for "I'm Like a Lawyer…". Looking for a show? This week we had news of Pansy Division's October tour and Against Me!'s upcoming November trek with Sage Francis, World Inferno Friendship Society, and Cobra Skulls. Our Video of the Week featured part two of our video countdown to the Fest 6. This week we checked out the some footage of Org favourites the Lawrence Arms. The eighth edition of Vinyl File featured a look at the ultimate in early punk collectables from the Sex Pistols and previewed lots of upcoming wax. Our Editors Picks featured audio from Cleveland's Sidekicks and Cincinnati's 500 Miles to Memphis. We also streamed new music from former Marathon frontman Aaron Scott's new act Attica! Attica!, the new full length Doublecross from Vancouver's Riff Randells, and the entirety of Andrew Jackson Jihad's new folk–punk debut for Asian Man.

September 9th, 2007

It's Sunday, September 9th, 2007. Well, it's been a week without anonymous comments and the world is still turning, so far, so good. Since we're in constant search of improvement here's another change for you: I'd like to welcome Ben Conoley to the editorial staff. Ben's been volunteering reviews and news for some time now, and he's the one responsible for our new hit Vinyl File column every Wednesday. To top it off, the provincially New Brunswick resident's sitting on the final jury for this year's Polaris Music Prize (like the Mercury, only in loonies), which we think is pretty wild. If he gives Plaskett the cheque then maybe we'll keep him on board. early 2008 Saves the Day gave fans a taste of their next with the song "Get Fucked Up" while the Ataris promised a return to their End is Forever and Blue Skies era. Avenged Sevenfold posted their album cover, a new webisode and even a NOFX cover to get their fans excited. Speaking of excited, there's life in the Dillinger Four camp! The band chatted about comics and their new record this week. On the touring circuit we had dates for a Thursday / Circle Takes the Square trek. The Misfits may not be what they used to be, but they're celebrating 30 years nonetheless. In the pop field Fall Out Boy, Gym Class Heroes, Plain White T's and Cute Is What We Aim For further fleshed out their tour. On a decidedly lower budget note, 'Org favourites Bomb the Music Industry! will be on the road as well. Our Video of the Week featured part one of our video countdown to the Fest 6. This week we checked out the supergroup Armalite. The seventh edition of Vinyl File featured a chat with Justin Schwier of Underground Communiqué and previewed lots of upcoming wax. Our Editors Picks featured audio from Germany's Deny Everything and Richmond's Cloak/Dagger. We also streamed new music from Young Livers, featuring members of Glass and Ashes, Fiya and Towers of Hanoi. Everyone with a soul will fall in love

All of the staff would like to extend a massive internet hi–five to community member, contributor, good friend and overall rad dude Richard "Dante3000" Verducci for managing not only to find a woman who can deal with his massive internet addiction but also to convince her to marry him on Saturday. Congratulations Rich and Katie, here's to you.

September 2nd, 2007

It's Sunday September 2nd, 2007. Well this is called Navel Gazing, so let's talk Punknews. After literally years of debating the issue we finally took the plunge this weekend and disabled anonymous commenting. From here on, only registered users can post comments. You can find the full explanation and initial reaction in our announcement. A lot of you have asked if this was the result of any one single band complaining to us, and it wasn't. It's more an effort to pull our staff from the brink of going mad like Colonel Kurtz in Apocalypse Now. That's just bad for productivity. The people must have something good to read on a Sunday Yet another piece of punk history was lost this week, as Hilly Kristal of legendary scene-fostering New York City venue CBGB died at age 75. His club of course helped launch the careers of the Ramones, Television, Patti Smith and many others. To add to the retrospective mood, Time Magazine launched a multimedia feature celebrating the 30th Anniversary Of Punk. Against Me! continues to support the New Wave juggernaut, performing "Stop" live on the Late Show, releasing a digital EP and announcing the rest of their fall tour. Now the Gainesville act has some nutty fans, but hopefully they're less sensitive than those of Fall Out Boy and My Chemical Romance. The guyliner was flying when both acts missed out on Kerrang! awards. There was a different type of drama in the I Am Ghost camp, as the band revealed the religious conflicts that lead to their recent lineup shift.

There were lots of news on the touring front this week. The Bouncing Souls announced a handful of fall tour dates while Less Than Jake charted out a globe trotting few months in the UK, Japan and Australia. Hellogoodbye, Say Anything and Japan's Polysics will soon embark on the Myspace Tour. Out on the mainstream pop punk front you'll find Fall Out Boy, Gym Class Heroes, Plain White T's and Cute is What We Aim For. How about some new music? American Steel continued their triumphant return with the killer Sons of Avarice" while Jimmy Eat World previewed their new full length Chase the Light and Angels & Airwaves teased "Everything's Magic." Every Time I Die also unveiled their video for "We'rewolf." Our Video of the Week featured Dead To Me performing at last year's edition of The Fest. The sixth edition of Vinyl File featured a chat with No Idea Records head Var Thelin and previewed lots of upcoming wax. We also streamed new music from Arsonists Get All The Girls latest full length The Game of Life, Young Livers, which features members of Glass and Ashes, Fiya and Towers of Hanoi, and half of the new full length from Toronto ska-punks the Flatliners.

August 26th, 2007

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.

August 19th, 2007

It's Sunday August 19th, 2007. Nothing much happened this week. See you next Sunday!

The people must have something good to read on a Sunday

Alright, alright. I'll concede that a few things of note were announced, primarily tours. The hearts of the Punknews audience continue to beat irregularly as the thought of the Lawrence Arms upcoming tour with American Steel and Larry Arms offshoots the Falcon and Sundowner. The first slate of dates for the trek were announced this week. Squat punks Leftover Crack are touring as well, talking along with them a motley crew of bands that includes Toxic Narcotic, I Object and Introp5pect. Silverstein, From Autumn To Ashes and Strike Anywhere have their own tour in the works, set to kick off this October. Bad Religion and UK labelmates Gallows will support their respective recent records with a tour alongside the Briggs. Tiger Army's got that same thing in mind, teaming up with the Street Dogs for a jaunt of their own.

John Reis of Rocket From The Crypt and Drive Like Jehu fame will return to the stage and studio soon with his new act Speedo. He's teaming up with bandmates from Hot Snakes and Swami act CPC Gangbangs this time out. The Loved Ones are in the studio as well, set to record under the loving direction of Pete and Bryan of those Jersey mooches the Bouncing Souls. We had details on a number of upcoming releases this week. This includes the title and recording details on NOFX's live record They've Actually Gotten Worse, a release date for Angels and Airwaves' I-Empire, and track listings for both the Dropkick Murphys' The Meanest of Times and Coheed & Cambria's next album for which I refuse to memorize the title. Epitaph announced their first signing in a while, with the addition of New Hampshire's Our Last Night to their roster. Aiden posted a full album stream of their new record Conviction, and you can thank me for not re-posting their nightmare inducing press photo here again. Finally this week we celebrated the 25th Anniversary of the compact disc by spinning a Screeching Weasel tune on the subject. That's it.

Oh… wait… there was also a minor incident in a coffee shop. Tom Gabel of Against Me! may or may not have been involved. Something about a cruller.

Our Video of the Week featured live footage of Colorado's Signal To Noise, the third part of our feature from our recent Gaslight Anthem tag along. We talked to MU330 frontman and solo artist Dan Potthast this week as well (interview) The fourth edition of Vinyl File was a doozy. We chatted with Billy Hamilton of Silverstein about his Hot Water Music collection, and dude -- it's epic. We also streamed new music from Philadelphia's the Low Budgets, featuring Joe Jack Talcum of the Dead Milkmen, a new track from third wave ska mainstays Mustard Plug, the new full length from Philadelphia's Jena Berlin, and the new record from Toronto's reggae-influenced three piece Bedouin Soundclash.

Click Read More to see this week's contests, streaming music and more.

August 12th, 2007

It's Sunday August 12th, 2007. Does anyone find it entirely surreal that we're squabbling over ownership of the the North Pole now? Particularly since it involves rushing to plant flags like it's the 1500s? If we're going to be fighting the Battle of Hoth we could at least get some walkers or tauntauns or something…

The people must have something good to read on a Sunday

Given the amount of acclaim they've garnered it seemed strange to have Thrice unsigned, and they didn't remain that way for long. This week we learned that the band signed to Vagrant Records and we saw a teaser video for their upcoming album. Despite what Big D and the Kids Table revealed, the Mighty Mighty Bosstones are refusing to comment on news that they've planning a series of reunion shows. We're hoping it's going to happen of course. Bad Brains remain in the media following the release of their new album, tackling the heavy issues of homophobia and race in a recent interview. A debate over censorship arose this week as alt rock act Pearl Jam had lyrics cut from a corporately sponsored webcast.

A ton of new media arrived this week including the new single "The Running Free" from Coheed & Cambria, the video for "Thrash Unreal" from Against Me!, Plus 44's pro skater directed video for "155", Chiodos' new song "Is It Progression If A Cannibal Uses A Fork?", new music from Mustard Plug in the form of "Hit Me Hit Me", and a streaming full length from Blaqk Audio. Speaking of the AFI side project, Blaqk Audio will take their odd spelling and electro beats on the road in September. Upcoming tours will see Propagandhi visit South America, NOFX, Mad Caddies and the Loves Ones tour Europe and Dropkick Murphys in the US with the Horrorpops. We had news on upcoming releases from A Wilhelm Scream. They're preparing to release Career Suicide on Oct 9th. Avenged Sevenfold announced details on their new album while Panic! at the Disco mused about their next. Finally that oft delayed reissue of Operation Ivy's classic Energy looks set for November.

Our Video of the Week features the second segment of our "On The Road with the Gaslight Anthem" feature. We also had the pleasure of chatting with Casey Royer of long running punk act D.I. (interview). The third edition of Vinyl File arrived, looking at a rare and much sought after Judge 12" and checking out the upcoming releases. We also streamed new music from Asian Man band The Hot Toddies, The Riot Before's upcoming EP, the return full length from 3rd wave ska act Buck-O-Nine, and three songs from celebrated hardcore band Modern Life Is War.

Click Read More to see this week's contests, streaming music and more.