March 2006 Punk and Indie News

BORN TO DIE IN THE GUTTER
Some announcements have been made in the almighty Discharge camp: they entered the studio in February to record a few new tracks for an EP (purportedly “They Lie You Die”, “Blood of the Innocent”, and “The World Fights Back”) that, in CD form, will also include a bonus DVD on Thunk Records, as well as being issued on vinyl. Also, they’ve some scattered dates in March and April in the U.K. (remember, Rat from The Varukers sings for ‘em now) see www.discharge.co.uk for updates.

WHO AM I
The mighty hardcore/punk/thrash pioneers D.R.I. have a tour in the works that will hit the entire U.S. in May and June. Get your asses out to these shows! These guys are legends⎯and still capable of bringing it. Check www.myspace.com/dirtyrottenimbeciles for the latest updates.

ILL AT EASE
Red Scare has announced their next release will be from a SKRATCH newsdesk fave, The Methadones. The awesome Chicago punk four-piece’s follow-up to NOT ECONOMICALLY VIABLE (Thick) will (tentatively) be called 21ST CENTURY POWER POP RIOT and produced by Matt and Neil at Atlas Studios. Their fourth album, full of covers of artists like Joe Jackson, Gary Glitter, Cheap Trick, and The Jags, will come out in the summer and will feature some “pretty cool” guest vocalists.

KISS THIS
As of press time, our boys the Sex Pistols declared they will NOT attend their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame March 13 in a hand-scrawled, profanity-laden, unsigned letter, a proverbial bullocks to the shrine. “We’re not coming,” the letter said, “Were not your monkeys” (note the poor spelling). This reaction keeps in tune with their former not-so-nice opinion of being inducted into the Hall. More power to ‘em.

THORP BIRTHS A SAILOR
New imprint Sailor’s Grave Records is throwing its hat in the punk-rock ring as a MAJOR contender, releasing albums from the likes of U.S. Bombs, The Ducky Boys, Mad Sin, The Kings of Nuthin’, Bombshell Rocks, Angel City Outcasts, Mark Lind, The Welch Boys, The Generators, Far from Finished, Born to Lose, and more this year. Sailor’s Grave is founded by the folks who run Thorp and so now Thorp will shift its focus more to hardcore/metal and all that is heavy, while Sailor’s Grave takes over the street punk/Oi!/psychobilly/rock ‘n’ roll roster. www.sailorsgraverecords.com

PUCK OFF!
After what seems an eternity of no releases from Long Island/NYC’s Two Man Advantage, the greatest hockey- and beer-based punk band have some good news: their split 7” with Supreme Commander will come out on Basement Records (www.basementrecords.net) on April 11. In celebration, they’re going on a four-day East Coast mini-tour, beginning March 16 in Amityville, NY and ending March 19 in D.C. with Supreme Commander, The Goons, and Cranked Up!

MAKING HEADWAY IN THE SCENE
Melodic hardcore purveyors Flee The Seen, who just released their debut full-length, DOUBT BECOMES THE NEW ADDICITION (Facedown) and hit up SXSW, are presently touring the West Coast and Midwest and will be out till April 14. Check www.fleetheseen.com for info.

CAUGHT IN A LINE-UP CHANGE
NYC’s Caught in a Trap have announced the departing of Sid a.k.a. Johnny Force who has gotten himself a new gig that will be putting him out on the road for extended amounts of time and wished him “nothing but good times, cold beers, and loose women out there on the road.” They now welcome bassist 6PAK JON to the hardcore fold.

GET RICH OR DIE TRYING
Getting in on the celebrity bandwagon, rapper/actor 50 Cent will pen a children’s book, which follows up his autobiography. What he hopes to accomplish through this endeavor is to use his past experiences to teach children lessons about life. “The stories will have a positive message, something that kids can learn from,” he says.

WICKED GARDEN
Oft-troubled Scott Weiland will write a memoir, which will include stories about his history in the world of rock, from Stone Temple Pilots to his current gig as Velvet Revolver frontman, his drug problems, and living the sober life.

LIVE THROUGH THIS
In other troubled rock-star news, Miss Courtney Love failed to get a civil case against her for assault dismissed in February, though her lawyers were successful in arguing to a Santa Monica, California, judge that the statute of limitations had passed for one of the causes of action. The Hole frontwoman is being sued for attacking Kristin King, an L.A. musician, in April 2004, for which she pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault and paid $2,700 to the victim. However, King says that’s not enough and wants full restitution. King’s attorney said that while a court date for the next hearing has yet to be set, the case is proceeding.

AND FOR THOSE WHO NEED MORE OF A COURTNEY FIX…
Courtney Love’s father, Hank Harrison (a former rock manager), is preparing to sue her and the publisher of her upcoming book, Faber & Faber, if she writes that he’s the one responsible for her drug addiction by giving her LSD while a toddler. The book is titled DIRTY BLONDE.

PURE PUNK ROCK
After toiling away at it for two years, Punk Core released a two-hour-plus, street punk-soaked DVD on March 7. “A raw, high energy documentation” of today’s scene, PURE PUNK ROCK is filled with live performances, interviews, and videos from Punk Core’s inimitable roster⎯past and present⎯like The Casualties, Cheap Sex, Defiance, Lower Class Brats, Action, Blood or Whiskey, The Havoc, The Messengers, The Scarred, and The Virus. As a bonus, the DVD also includes a free full-color booklet with photos and liner notes. www.punkcore.com

BREAKING THE SILENCE
Coming out of the SGV in California, Silent Civilian is set to release their debut album REBIRTH OF THE TEMPLE April 18 through Mediaskare Records. Produced and mixed by former Machine Head guitarist Logan Mader, the album will purportedly “breathe new air into the current new wave of American metal.” Four tracks from the album, “Rebirth Of The Temple”, “The Song Remains Un-Named”, “Divided”, and “Falling Down”, can be heard online at www.myspace.com/silentcivilian and www.purevolume.com/silentcivilian.

ROCK’S PEACE PRIZE?
U2’s Bono and former leader of Irish punk band Boomtown Rats Bob Geldof were nominated for the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize. Bono is up for the award for his fight against world poverty and Geldorf for organizing last year’s Live 8 benefit concerts. Other contenders of the 191 nominees are former mayor of NYC Rudy Giuliani, India’s Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Austria’s SOS Children’s Villages, and former Illinois governor and death penalty opponent George Ryan. The winner is awarded the prize December 10 in Oslo, Norway.

SCARY KIDS UPDATES
Scary Kids Scaring Kids finished recording their cover of R.E.M.’s “Losing My Religion” with producer Brian Virtue (Jane’s Addiction) for Fearless’ upcoming PUNK GOES 90’S comp. After finishing a supporting tour with Mest, SKSK (touring on their Immortal release THE CITY SLEEPS IN FLAMES) are headlining a run to South By Southwest with Portugal the Man and The Classic Crime prior to their tour with Funeral For a Friend. Go to www.scarykids.com for all info.

WE’RE GOING UNDERGROUND
The U.K.’s latest “It” band, The Subways, are coming to America for a tour in March and April in support of their new album YOUNG FOR ETERNITY (Sire/Reprise). While here, they’ll also hit up Coachella this April. Check www.thesubways.net for exact dates and all that useful stuff.

THERE’S STILL HOPE
Deathwish welcomed the highly-influential hardcore band The Hope Conspiracy to the fold last month after previously releasing records on Equal Vision and Bridge 9. They’re new one, DEATH KNOWS YOUR NAME, recorded and engineered by Kurt Ballou, will be released later this year and marks the first recorded appearance of Tim Cossar (American Nightmare, Bars) with the band, as well as the return of guitarist Neeraj Kane (The Suicide File). Deathwish promise the album will be overflowing with “unforgiving heaviness and rage” and will serve as “a true amalgamation of their classic piss and vinegar approach and a new found epic maturity.” This spring, to allay people’s anticipation of the album, they will release a limited EP featuring songs that won’t appear on the album. www.deathwishinc.com

REFUSED ARE FUCKING DEAD
The new REFUSED ARE FUCKING DEAD DVD will be out April 25 in the U.S. on Burning Heart/Epitaph and will include live performances and videos as well as live footage from THE SHAPE OF PUNK TO COME era. That album, released in ’98, heralded the influential Swedish post-hardcore band’s demise to many-a-fan’s chagrin.

TELEVISION’S OVER
The Federal Communications Commission has updated what can and cannot occur on broadcast TV (read more regulation). The agency has decided to affirm its $550,000 fine against CBS for Janet Jackson’s 2004 Super Bowl “wardrobe malfaction” and declared a common term for excrement will not be allowed on-air, after Nicole Richie used the four-letter word at the 2003 Billboard Music Awards.

CIS IN TROUBLE
On April 18 Long Island-based hardcore act Crime In Stereo release their Nitro debut, THE TROUBLED STATESIDE and the label promises a record showing the band moving “beyond the genre with more mid-tempo tracks, and vocalist, Kristian Hallbert, dropping it down a notch occasionally from his usual high-energy delivery to a more melodic approach.” The band is on tour with Against All Authority and Set Your Goals until early May. Listen to a new MP3 of “Bicycles for Afghanistan” at www.myspace.com/crimeinstereo and check out tour info.

WE’RE GONNA TAKE THE WORLD
Versus The World are currently on tour with No Use For a Name and will be joined later by The Suicide Machines and I Am The Avalanche. VTW will also be hitting Canada and just about every city you can think of. Check www.kungfurecords.com for details.

TKO UPDATE
TKO Records has announced new records from the likes of hardcore punks 46 Short, who will release the 13-track TRUTH DENIED April 4; Germany’s Nazi Dogs dropping their debut LP CHASE THE MAN on the same day; and Smut Peddlers putting out THAT’S AMORE: LIVE AT DIPIAZZA’S CD/DVD April 18.

HELLCAT SIGNS TIME AGAIN
Los Angeles street punks Time Again recently signed with Hellcat and will release their new, self-produced 13-song LP, THE STORIES ARE TRUE, April 25. Last year the band released a self-titled EP (Rancid Records). None other than Lars Frederiksen calls Time Again “a real band…No monitors, no sound check, no crybabies. This is what punk is. This is a band that’s gonna be around for a long time.” Sounds good to us!

CAVEAT EMPTOR
The Warning’s debut for Punk Core, ALL SYSTEMS DEAD, is out May 16 and is being touted as “a fiery pure punk rock romp that recalls the finest moments of such classic bands as Exploited, G.B.H., and even Motorhead” but of course the band also lay claim to a “powerful identity of their own.” The Detroit band will celebrate the album’s release with a tour with labelmates Damage Case. Hear “Social Disease” off the album by visiting Punk Rock Radio at www.punkcore.com.

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER
15 Minutes Late just finished their new album PESSIMISM AND SATIRE (Fearless), which will be out April 11. The record was produced by Sean O’Keefe (Hawthorne Heights, Fallout Boy).

THE WALKMEN NEWS
The Walkmen will release their third studio album, A HUNDRED MILES OFF (Record Collection) May 23. The follow-up to 2004’s BOWS & ARROWS “is without a doubt our most solid effort yet,” according to vocalist/guitarist Leithauser. The band worked with Don Zientara (Bad Brains, Fugazi) at Inner Ear Studios in DC. They’re performing at Coachella in April, followed by a May U.K. tour, and a full-U.S. tour in June.

PREMATURE BURIAL
A rather grotesque discovery was made at Oceanside (Long Island, NY) Linen Services when a corpse of a prematurely born baby who died at South Nassau Communities Hospital in Oceanside was mistakenly⎯ahem⎯delivered there. No charges have been filed in what police called an accident. The hospital believes the baby (born four months premature to a Queens couple) arrived at the laundry service after a hospital employee didn’t realize the cadaver was among soiled linen being collected to be sent out for cleaning. After what happened was found out, the baby was wrapped in a blanket, placed in a plastic shroud, and taken to the hospital’s morgue until funeral plans were to be completed.

VICTORY SIGNINGS
Victory is proud to announce the signing of Minneapolis post-hardcore band Four Letter Lie, who’ve played shows on Taste of Chaos and Warped Tour as well as touring nationally and now “see the light of many possibilities and we couldn't see any other label fit for us to reach those goals,” says the band. Look for their Victory debut to hit stores in August and they’ll be out in May with Glory of This. www.myspace.com/fourletterlie. Metallic hardcore act Nights Like These have also been welcomed aboard and are in Richmond, VA recording their Victory debut with Andreas Magnusson (The Black Dahlia Murder, Gods) that should be available mid-June. www.myspace.com/nlt

BLOODLINED AND ON TOUR
Bloodlined Calligraphy are going on tour in April with Kittie. Facedown Records says that vocalist Ally French, who injured her knee last November at Facedown Fest East Coast has undergone surgery and will be back to do some more damage. BLC first hit up Facedown Fest in Pomona April 1 and then set out for some more shows. Check www.blcmosh.com for more info. They’ll be playing the New England Metal and Hardcore Fest as well this year.

WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE
Maroon have signed with Century Media and will release their follow-up to 2004’s ENDORSED BY HATE on April 18. WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE, according to the German metalcore five-piece who formed in ’98 and cite bands like Earth Crisis and Iron Maiden as influences, “is definitely our most aggressive offering yet” and say that the “album is just plain brutal and features more classic metal influences.” Expect some guest appearances by the likes of Roger Miret (Agnostic Front) and Barney Greenway (Napalm Death), among others, and some dates in the U.S. this summer.

HASTE THE DAY’S NEW VOCALIST
After one European tour and two weeks into their tour with Bleeding Through and Every Time I Die, Haste the Day have made Stephen Keech a permanent fixture in the band. Keech replaces Jimmy Ryan (who left the band last November) as lead singer. Haste the Day became aware of Keech in early 2005 through his involvement in bands locally in Denver, Colorado and his name was one of the first to come up when Ryan left. After several discussions and much thought were put forth, Keech was asked to join the band for a three-week European tour in January.

SIDETENDUMMY
SideOneDummy celebrates its tenth anniversary this year and have announced the SideOneDummy Records 10th Anniversary Shows. The SideOneDummy staff, along with their bands, will be in Los Angeles at the Key Club the evenings of March 22, 23, 24, and 25. The first night sees The Briggs and Flogging Molly, while the second promises The Casualties, the third Zox and Gogol Bordello, and the fourth night 22 Jacks, American Eyes, and MXPX. Tickets available at Ticketmaster or the Key Club box office. OR go to www.sideonedummy.com for a chance to win tickets.

TOO FAST TO LIVE…
There’s a new punk and tattoo style clothing line in town. Too Fast Clothing is an “in your face” style of clothing inspired by the punk and tattoo culture. The line includes baby and kids t-shirts, punk bags and purses, old-school Chuck Taylor shoes for kids and adults, cadet-style caps, and tons more. Check it all out at www.toofastonline.com.

KNIGHTS IN WHITE SATIN
Brutal Knights, who’s debut full-length is on Deranged Records, have a West Coast tour coming up from March 31 in Los Angeles to April 8 in Santa Ana. See www.brutalknights.com for more.

SMOG VEIL
This year Smog Veil Records will be releasing albums from Pere Ubu (supposedly in September), Unknown Instructors (which features Minutemen/fIREHOSE rhythm section of Mike Watt and George Hurly), and Thor. The label also will launch an entirely new Website in April, which will provide free podcasting downloads with label news and band videos. www.smogveil.com

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