March 18th, 2007

It's Sunday March 18th, 2007. So we now have a precedent that when super heroes die their weaponry is given to comedians. We need to think this through and make some decisions before the next tragedy, just so we're not caught off guard. I'd hate to give Iron Man's armor to David Cross only to find out he's scared of flying or claustrophobic or something like that. It'd be embarrassing.

The people must have something good to read on a Sunday New Maps Of Hell, baby! We were thrilled this week to bring you news on the next Bad Religion record, a 17 track monster set to hit stores on July 10th. The old Dead Kennedys fued reared its ugly head this week, as Jello Biafra spoke out against his former bandmates' plans to license a song to the Quentin Tarantino / Robert Rodriguez double feature "Grindhouse." Green Day's putting together a cover of Lennon's "Working Class Hero" to benefit Amnesty's campaign to end the Darfur genocide. On a less dire note, they're also in the Simpsons movie. Davey Havok and Jade Puget of AFI finally released music from their electronic side-project Blaqk Audio, a band that's been in the works for several years now without any output. Of course we can't have a week with some sort of weird Fall Out Boy news, and this one tops them all. The mainstream pop rockers have plans to release posters inked in their own blood.

Everyone broke up this week. Under tragic circumstances street punks Cheap Sex are no more. Punknews helped them get noticed, but now we can report that Matchbook Romance has announced the dreaded infinite hiatus. We're left with one less Simpsons-referencing pop-punk band, as Madison, WI's I Voted For Kodos is gone. Finally the ever controversial Ramallah called it a day. Ditto Victory act Scars of Tomorrow. A number of new releases were discussed this week, including Propagandhi's upcoming DVD, the next record from Canadian pop-punks Sum 41, and a new record from ska-punks the Mad Caddies. To cap it off, we had one of our traditional monthly Sex Pistols arguments, as we celebrated the 30 year anniversary of the band's A&M swindle.

Our MP3 Of The Week introduced you to the Virginia Beach's No Brass and Philadelphia's Bookburner. We also spoke with members of the Riverboat Gamblers (interview) and San Francisco's Set Your Goals (interview). If you, like me, grew up with Short Music for Short People soundtracking your teenage years, you're absolutely going to love the stream from Short Attention.

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

March 11th, 2007

It's Sunday March 11th, 2007. To the jet stream has been kind to us and we're finally starting to see the snow melt up here in North Org'ville. I tell ya, after a month or so of arctic air a high of 2 degrees celsius is reason to party. We creep just above the freezing point and suddenly everyone's naked. You folks down in the warmer zones will never understand.

The people must have something good to read on a Sunday

Bad news all around in the mainstream pop-punk realm. It came to light that Fall Out Boy lifted lyrics from celebrated hardcore act American Nightmare / Give Up The Ghost. GUTG vocalist Wes Eisold settled out of court with multi-platinum act. A courtroom is where Good Charlotte's Joel Madden may find himself, as the frontman was accused of battering a woman this week. Hawthorne Heights is at least having some luck in the legal realm, as a judge ruled in their favor in one part of their war with Victory. Nothing particularly dramatic happened to Panic! At The Disco, but they did try their hand at controversy with a "mature" rated video. Allister? Heck they just sat the whole thing out.

Against Me! announced a major tour this year with Mastodon and Cursive among others. Band frontman Tom Gabel also spoke with the National Post the band's upcoming New Wave. The Beastie Boys announced a new record this summer, a return to action that Adam Yauch says will feature more live instruments than their previous. Yauch's also in the producer's chair on the new Bad Brains record, but you knew that. There's trouble in Denmark as members of Level Plane act Graf Orlock as well as Comadre were arrested for, essentially, "looking punk." This crazy week brought you a new studio journal from favorites Strung Out, a new video from Lifetime, and a good ol' "Top X albums" list for music nerds to rip apart.

We brought you a lots of new streams this week, including selections from the Pop Punk's Not Dead compilation, music from South Korea's the Geeks, the split from Leftover Crack and Citizen Fish, Chris McCaughan's new project Sundowner, and anticipated new music from Hot Rod Circuit. Our MP3 Of The Week introduced you to the Chinese Telephones and brought you an old favorite from the Dismemberment Plan, while our Video Of The Week featured Against Me!' performing a new song in Richmond.

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

March 4th, 2007

It's Sunday March 4th, 2007. So the Soviet death cloud that enveloped the moon was pretty cool eh? We take our eyes off those sneaky red bastards for a second and look what happens.

The people must have something good to read on a Sunday Leftover Crack were forced to cancel two shows after New York City cops threatened to shut them down for "code violations." On the plus side, this has provided song fodder for at least two full lengths and an EP. Skipping back a few generations of punk, pioneers the Bad Brains have signed to Megaforce Records with a spring 2007 release and world tour scheduled. Sticking with legendary bands, but trading genres, political hip hop act Public Enemy have announced a March tour. Of course hip hop is no longer the dangerous social enemy it once was, as these days we overreact to the youth-destroying ills of emo. The fearless press in Eddy County blew the lid off this cult. Those hopeless children are probably rocking out to From First To Last, a band which just lost a vocalist and label while finding new ones.

We had bad news this week from our pals at Suburban Home Records, as the label announced that it was scaling down and shutting down the CD store Dead Format. Maybe the future is digital, at least Ben Weasel thinks so as the Screeching Weasel frontman's launched a new digital-only label. Warped Tour head Kevin Lyman spoke out about this year's lineup, citing that diversity was in order and requires an open mind from attendees. Thrice frontman Dustin Kensrue announced that he'll commit 5% of the proceeds from his solo record to charity. Meanwhile Bad Religion frontman Greg Graffin spoke with UCLA campus newspaper about his experience as a lecturing professor. On the media front we had a new Tiger Army song featuring Davey Havok on backups, as well as some bizarre Alexisonfire-related video from Japan.

We brought you a couple of new streams this week, including the new full length from Saw Wheel, an exclusive live acoustic song from the North Atlantic, and a preview of the upcoming debut from Sparta-related act Glos. Our MP3 Of The Week featured music from Buffalo's the Failures' Union while our Video Of The Week featured the second half of our interview / performance from Lifetime.

Click Read More to see this week's streaming music, contests, and a little surprise from reviewer Jesse.

February 25th, 2007

It's Sunday February 25th, 2007. Now, some may call it lazy to just take the squid from last week's article and Photoshop in something blatantly obvious, but I'll have you know it was the result of intense debate and scrutiny over here. Well… it was the result of my girlfriend and I sitting on the couch and watching TV. That's sort of the same thing.

The people must have something good to read on a Sunday Rise Against has lost yet another guitarist as Chris Chasse has left the popular Chicago punk band. Replacing him is Zach Blair of Only Crime. So Rage Against The Machine's one-off reunion is set to last a little bit longer, as the group is set to play three shows with Wu-Tang Clan. Speaking of reunions, albeit little bit lower profile reunions, Inquisition has added a second show. We had a report from the road that Reggie and the Full Effect's James DeWees is performing with pop stars My Chemical Romance on their current tour. All these tours better be careful at the 49th, as the Canada-US border is posing more trouble for bands on the road.

On the subject of tours, we've got dates for NOFX's April Asian tour and even more Warped Tour confirmations. Look for bands like Flogging Molly, the Briefs and Hawthorne Heights this year. One show that's got everyone buzzing is an upcoming Naked Raygun gig with Dillinger Four and the Bollweevils. On the media front this week brought a Fall Out Boy remix by Kanye West, a new Against Me! track debuted via a live video, and news of an upcoming Pulley DVD

We brought you a couple of new streams this week, including the new full length from Smoke Or Fire and the split between Boston ska act Big D & The Kids Table and Beijing punks Brain Failure. Our MP3 Of The Week featured music from Chicago's the Ponys and inblackandwhite.

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

February 18th, 2007

It's Sunday February 18th, 2007. This is a squid. Scientists have learned that before this particular squid devours you, it lights up and fires deadly laser beams out of its tentacles. That's the truth and I encourage you to use it in school reports. Punknews is, if nothing else, pro-education. Well, at least we're pro-cephalopod.

The people must have something good to read on a Sunday

So what do you want first, the band news or the collapse of civilization news? Let's go for the latter.

We had a report on Punk Planet photographer Ken Krayeske, who was arrested at the Connecticut governor's inaugural parade for photographing Gov. Jodi Rell, or in legalese "breach of peace and interfering with an officer." Senator Ted Stevens seeks to further police the internet tubes, proposing a new law that could ban MySpace, Wikipedia or even ever humble Punknews.org. Checking in on the Club Deep case, an arrest was made earlier this week, with the accused pleading not guilty. The Washington D.C. all-ages ban was debated this week, with Fugazi frontman Ian Mackaye testifying against the scene-shattering move. Finally, 10th Level Vice President Al Gore has organized a series of "Rock Against Global Warming" concerts with bands such as Foo Fighters, Fall Out Boy and AFI set to participate.

Jesse Michaels spoke out on the perpetual reunion rumours surrounding his bands, claiming that you won't see Common Rider or Operation Ivy anytime soon. Remeber that Rage Against The Machine reunion show? Well Chris Cornell has left Audioslave. Hmm. 3rd wave ska band Buck-O-Nine is back with a new record. Look for it on Asian Man sometime soon. The reunited Police are headed out on the road soon. Speaking of tours, look for NOFX to invade invade Australia. This week saw the White Stripes sign with Warner, the Draft announce a digital EP, and the Bronx Rock The Rabbit.

Finally we express our deep condolences to Chris #2 of Anti-Flag. This week the tragic circumstances which forced them off tour were revealed.

Our Video Of The Week featured an interview and performance from Lifetime in Washington, DC. Our MP3 Of The Week featured the Varsity Weirdos and Lily Allen. We brought you a number of streams this week, previewing great new music from the Ottawa Ramones-core act the Riptides, ex-Tsunami Bomb band Nothington, Sudbury power-pop act Statues, the split between Reel Big Fish and Zolof The Rock and Roll Destroyer and finally BÃ¥stad, Sweden's Sounds Like Violence.

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

February 11th, 2007

It's Sunday February 11th, 2007. Well what a crazy week for the US east coast. Between accusations of scary scene violence, youth curfews at shows and the long overdue war on listening while walking around, there's simply a ton of drama in the EST. So whacha got West Coast? A new No Doubt album? That's it? That's all you're bringing to the table? Weak.

The people must have something good to read on a Sunday

The death at Asbury Park's Club Deep is in the news again, as a paper ties the incident to hardcore "crew" FSU. Meanwhile over in Boston, city officials have imposed an 11pm curfew for people under 21 at shows and clubs in an effort to stamp out "noise and disruption." To to be outdone, a New York state senator has proposed banning walking while listening, more or less. Chicago had no weird city / scene drama, just updates from its ever popular crop of bands. The Lawrence Arms posted a status update detailing some future plans, while the Alkaline Trio are recording, label or no label. The music may not be your thing, but it's quite a sea change so see a festival of Ozzfest's size go free. Still, while on the surface good for consumers critics say the move will screw artists. Underoath is safe at least, since they just signed up for Warped.

So were you a fan of alt-rock in the 90s? If so this was your week. No Doubt announced plans for a new record, while the Smashing Pumpkins will return with "Zeitgeist" in July. That Prince cover of the Foo Fighters at the Superbowl raised a few questions, since there's an apparent rivalry between the two. Over in our corner, we had more Lifetime updates from Dr. Dan Yemin, a new album in the works from Whole Wheat Bread, and an Anti-Flag tour cancellation.

Our Video Of The Week featured archival footage of Richmond, VA's Ann Beretta from all the way back in 2003. Our MP3 Of The Week introduced you to Oakland's The Time Flys and Long Island's Ghost of Lester Bangs.

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

February 4th, 2007

It's Sunday February 4th, 2007. Remember NFL Superpro? It was a thankfully short-lived Marvel comic from the early 90s about some bozo who was somehow coated in "experimental chemicals" and the fumes of burning "ultra-rare" football souvenirs and thus became invincible. He then steals a state of the art indestructible football uniform and proceeds to fight football-related crime. Interestingly enough, that's almost exactly how Chris started working for Punknews.

The people must have something good to read on a Sunday

Oh Pete, we know it sucks to have your record leak online, but you simply do not insult the average working Joe as a response. They ARE the ones who make up your audience remember. If you minimum wage criminals haven't stolen it already, you can stream Fall Out Boy's Infinity on High now. I guess you crooks wern't content in preying on Love Equals Death eh? Now Tom Morello certainly wouldn't attack the working class, but he displayed how own brand of hubris in claiming that the impending Rage Against The Machine reunion would be a "knockout blow" to the Bush administration. One of those average folks seems to be taking a stand of their own this week, as a teen has taken on the recording industry alledging collusion and extortion.

Everyone broke up this week, as we said goodbye to Lookout/Matador punk act Pretty Girls Make Graves, Drive Thru heartthrobs Hidden In Plain View, Mark Lind's band the Ducky Boys and Lobster act Park. We also had some confirmations on long rumored splits, including Brody Dalle's Distillers (although she'll be back in Spinnerette) and Jason Shevchuk's None More Black (although he'll be back in OnGuard). The bands remaining together pretty much all signed up for the Warped Tour, including Alkaline Trio, Norma Jean, and Hot Rod Circuit. I doubt you'll see them on Warped, but the Locust returned this week with new music. Ditto that Lifetime band. They may not be as shocking as the Locust, but the kids in Mindless Self Indulgence managed to offend some Christian rock affectionatos this week. Meanwhile here at the Org, Anti-Flag had everyone arguing about PETA, which if you missed it was sort of like the last 200 times that's happened.

Looking for interesting punk content online? This week we saw the ever elusive list of "top punk albums" via IGN, some footage 80s hardcore kids on Phil Donahue via YouTube, and a look at race in underground music via the New York Times.

For your listening pleasure we brought you a stream of the new Million Dollar Marxists LP Zero Culture. Our Video Of The Week featured Me First and the Gimme Gimmes live in Las Vegas, while our MP3 Of The Week introduced you to the down and dirty sound of the Black Diamond Heavies.

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

January 28, 2007

It's Sunday January 28th, 2007. So last weekend most of the Punknews proved to the world (once again) that when disparate people converge once a year in the desert and drink a lot --- they can't bowl very well. Congrats to Epitaph for taking home the big prize. We did get to see Paddy's penis twice in a 24 hour period, so that made up for it.

Punknews.org hit a bit of a milestone this week as we published our 6000th review. Thanks to all the contributors and review staff who've volunteered their time and writing over the years. Want to get in on the fun? Get writing!

The people must have something good to read on a Sunday

Our readers can sense Propagandhi news just like dogs can sense earthquakes: Their ears perk up, they get nervous and they bark at seemingly random objects. Well the Winnipeg radicals are hard at work writing a new record, which given their track record should be ready by 2011. Speaking of bands referenced in recent NOFX songs, Rage Against The Machine confirmed their reunion at this year's Coachella, where they'll appear alongside Against Me!, Jesus and Mary Chain and more. Locals of Washington DC were shocked to hear that the city may ban minors from all clubs, not that the kids would be able to sit at home and listen to music on internet radio, since the government wants to squelch that too. For one thing they wouldn't be able to catch Reel Big Fish and Less Than Jake when the late 90s ska-punk bands roll through the capital. At least they'd get Warped Tour since it's outside, this year featuring Pepper and Pennnywise among others.

Epitaph's Brett Gurewitz spoke out about his label and the industry, putting those words into action by joining a coalition of indies set to take on the majors in the digital realm. The post-Blink-182 bands had some action this week, as Travis Barker was sidelined due to injury on the +44 tour and Angels and Airwaves hit the hit the studio. Also in the studio? Strung Out. Rounding out the week with some media we saw a stream of Alkaline Trio's b-sides record Remains, video of Against Me! discussing their past, present and future and video of Fucked Up destroying MTV Canada

This week we brought you new album streams from both the Queers and Only Crime. The Queers have a new record out to celebrate their 25th anniversary dubbed Munki Brain. Only Crime, which features members of Good Riddance, Descendents and several thousand other bands, has released their sophomore record Virulence on Fat Wreck.

Finally we bid farewell this week to Brent Liles (1963-2007), a veteran of a number of incredible bands including Social Distortion and Agent Orange.

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

January 21, 2007

It's Sunday January 21st, 2007. This weekend marks the 9th annual Punk Rock Bowling tournament, so while Adam, Brian, Justin, and Chris are in Vegas presumably smashing pins (or smashing empty cans of PBR on their foreheads) and representing the .Org, I, Meg, have accepted the challenge of wrapping up the week in "punk, ska, hardcore, emo, metal and indie" news.

The people must have something good to read on a Sunday

In an unsurprising move, the week's most talked about story involved the killing of a patron at a hardcore show in Asbury Park earlier this week. "America's Finest News Source" the Onion posted their picks for the worst band names of 2006 and a lot of you chimed in with the names they forgot. The dates for this year's Warped Tour were posted and headliner Bad Religion confirmed July 10th as the release date for their upcoming full-length. Both Thrice and Say Anything discussed their future releases. While Thrice is almost halfway through the writing and recording of their ambitious quadruple release, Say Anything are in the rehearsal and pre-production stages of In Defense of the Genre. The Clash fans rejoiced at the announcement of a major Joe Strummer biography being in the works. Despite only being four dates, Canadian Propagandhi fans were excited about the few opportunities to see the band on their "turf." Finally, Rage Against The Machine's Tom Morello mentioned the possibility of a reunion in a recent interview.

Our Video Of The Week featured an audio interview with Tomas Kalnoky of Streetlight Manifesto. We also brought you a new album stream of Tera Melos' new full length Drugs To the Dear Youth. Justin has continued his new years resolution by keeping up with the MP3 of the Week feature and spotlighting Smoke Or Fire. Finally, Brian caught up with Hot Rod Circuit in an interview you can check out here.

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

January 14, 2007

It's Sunday January 14th, 2007. It looks like after an extended holiday break the music industry's rumbled back to life with a fresh slate of lawsuits, career jeopardizing business implosions and other such fun. At some point actual music will dominate the headlines again, but not yet. You remember music right? Organized sounds expressed in terms of pitch, rhythm and all that? It's pretty cool.

The people must have something good to read on a Sunday

This past Friday V2 Records was eviscerated, and where this leaves the Blood Brothers, the Adored and most prominently the Alkaline Trio remains to be seen. Yet more details on the legal war between Victory Records and the Hawthorne Heights were unveiled this week. Since those two don't seem to be patching things up very well, let's welcome Aiden as the argument-inducing Victory act of 2007. This summer's Warped Tour continues to take shape, with the Matches and Escape The Fate hopping on board along with Coheed and Cambria. The Maryland Metal & Hardcore Festival projects a slightly different image from Warped, what with the Earth Crisis reunion and all that. On the touring front we posted dates for the Against Me! / Riverboat Gamblers / Fake Problems shows, info on the Aquabats' "last" gig before they "go underground" and the announcement that pop-darlings Fall Out Boy were headling the 2007 Honda Civic Tour. We post around 25 or 30 Lifetime articles every hour, and this week we featured the "Airport Monday Morning" video, details on record release shows, and music from the band's new single. Finally that yearly rumor of a new My Bloody Valentine record cropped up again, but I wouldn't hold your breath or anything.

Our Video Of The Week featured part two of a interview / performance from The Draft, live in Virginia Beach, VA. Our MP3 Of The Week pick for the week featured new BYO act and post-Tsunami Bomb band Nothington.

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

January 7, 2007

It's Sunday January 7th, 2007. Ok… first Navel Gazing of the year. Can't blow this intro. It's got to be funny, topical, and include some sort of vague yet clever reference that only myself and maybe Justin will understand. Definitely don't talk about the strange weather because you already did that. Don't mention the year end lists since we talked about those last week. Anything that provokes the commenters is a bonus. Easy, but a bonus. The people must have something good to read on a Sunday

The first week of the year brought some great news for fans of Naked Raygun, as the influential Chicago punk rock band announced that they were "back for good." Punk icons NOFX announced that they'd perform several records in their entirety on next week's Hollywood shows. Look for performances of The Decline, Punk In Drublic, White Trash, Two Heebs, and a Bean, and So Long and Thanks for all the Shoes on various evenings. Next week the new Lifetime single arrives, you may have heard of them. Both The Hives and Bad Religion are working on new records. The Swedish band is in the studio now while the seminal Californian punks will hit the studio next month for a rumored June release. Taking Back Sunday have announced an appearance on Canadian drama Degrassi. Speaking of Canuckistan, there's been some recent controversy over how content rules fail to support indie artists. Finally there's been some chatter that The Police may reunite.

Our Video Of The Week featured a performance and interview of The Draft live in Virginia Beach, VA. Tune in next week for part two of the feature on the Gainesville band. Our MP3 Of The Week feature returned this week with a track from Lemuria.

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

December 31st, 2006

It's Sunday December 31st, 2006. I'll keep this short and sweet since the time we've spent working on the year end lists has reduced me to a vegetative state. Those articles are now available on the right sidebar for your reading / arguing pleasure. We've got columns from the editors Aubin, Adam, Brian, Justin, Meg and Chris, our alumni editor Scott, and staff reviewers Anchors, Jesse, Greg0rb, Matt Whelihan and Ben_Conoley.

Have fun tonight folks, if you drink don't drive. The people must have something good to read on a Sunday Against Me! may be our number one newsmaker this year, not that I have a way to find out, but it's a hunch. The band titled their new record this week and announced tour plans with the Riverboat Gamblers and Fake Problems. New York hardcore mainstays Madball are writing their next, declaring that it will be their "hardest record to date." AFI posted some audio this week including a cover of David Bowie for AOL Sessions. The Loved Ones, a band I suspect is on quite a few year end lists `round here, lost their bassist Spider and announced plans for the new year. Social Distortion is back in the studio, but it only took them 7 years or so last time around so don't hold your breath. Finally we ended the week with some tour dates featuring Rise Against, the Bronx and Cancer Bats.

This week in music we bid farewell to the legendary Godfather of Soul James Brown (1933-2006), while news headlines were made around the world by the death of former U.S. president Gerald Ford (1913-2006) and former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein (1937-2006).

Our Video Of The Week featured the ever-popular Lifetime playing a few songs from the Fest earlier this year in Gainesville, FL. Also, our Fishmas present to all of you was video of Kid Dynamite's entire set live at CBGB.