It’s Sunday July 22nd, 2007. Have you ever sat down to write your Sunday recap article, only to so completely failin your attempt to link the stories that you a remarkably thin premise at the expense of Angels & Airwaves? I know I have.

The people must have something good to read on a Sunday

So post-Blink-182 act Angels & Airwaves posted a teaser video for their upcoming record I-Empire. I’m getting a bit less of a messiah complex vibe from this bout of press, and I have to say I almost miss the epic grandstanding. Now I wouldn’t say that Rivers Cuomo ever thought of himself a saviour, although for a while he was right up there with Mr. Delonge on the weirdness scale. Weezer‘s still kicking though, and they’ve begun recording their next full length. Now calling an anticipated record New Wave might be bordering on self-importance, but probably isn’t quite messianic. Regardless Against Me! continue the press blitz behind their major label debut, this week chatting it up with Blender and announcing tour dates with Matt and Kim and Dave Dondero. Pete Wentz — now we’re talking. Mainstream pop punk stars Fall Out Boy are headed to Uganda to support the charity Invisible Children and the guitarist / mouthpiece chatted about the trip on YouTube.

Coheed & Cambria‘s Chris Pennie just wouldn’t take the bait, pretty much turning the other cheek following the public ribbing he received last week from his former Dillinger Escape Plan bandmates. The Offspring keep on recording, announcing further progress on their pending full length. We heard they suck live, but regardless NOFX will give the live album another shot in early 2008. Celebrated alt-pop act Tegan and Sara streamed their new album The Con, as did their co-patriots Sum 41, who streamed their new work Underclass Hero. Finally the film Punk’s Not Dead announced screenings over the next month, why not hit up your local indie theatre and give it a shot?

This week saw the passing of Kelly Johnson of Girlschool (1958-2007). It also saw John Stabb of Government Issue assaulted and in need of help.

Punknews editor / videographer Chris Moran is on the road with the Gaslight Anthem, and provided us with a feature on the tour this week. We spoke with Leslie Simon and Trevor Kelley, authors of “Everybody Hurts: An Essential Guide to Emo Culture” (interview) as well as popular act The Used (interview). We also streamed six songs from the new Menzingers full length this week. .

Click Read More to see this week’s contests, streaming music and more.
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Omaha’s Saddle Creek Records has signed Newmarket, Ontario based indie rock act Tokyo Police Club. Pitchfork reports that the band signed a worldwide deal excluding Europe and Japan, with a new full length due in early 2008. The band will record this September.

Tokyo Police Club released the A Lesson in Crime EP last year on Paper Bag Records. It was followed by a three track digital EP titled Smith earlier this year.
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Canadian punk veterans, The Ripcordz, will hit the road again this summer to support the release of their new album, Dead Or Alive in 92, which will drop in stores August 14th. This cross-Canadian tour is comprised of 24 stops in 27 days.

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Intro5pect, the Californian electro-punks signed to Anti Flag’s A-F records, are touring the UK in August. Having spent the last few weeks in the studio recording some new tracks with Stza and co. from Leftover Crack, and gaining support and airplay from Radio 1 Lock Up DJ Mike Davis, they will be embarking on their own headline tour of the UK starting in Bristol on the 6th of August.

They will also be playing Rebellion festival on the 11th and on the 14th will be opening for Leftover Crack at the Birmingham Academy.

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John Stabb of legendary hardcore act Government Issue was recently victim of an assult. On July 17th the frontman was attacked by a group of five men just a block away from his home, and as a result is undergoing extensive facial reconstructive surgery starting today.

To help deal with the mounting medical bills and lost wages, friends of Stabb have pulled together a benefit effort. You can find more info on the cause here. A benefit concert and auction are planned, with details to be announced soon.
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With nearly 27 years and 14 official releases behind then, Bad Religion has opted to open their set list up for Warped this year. While it seems unlikely that you’re going to hear “Billy Gnosis” at Warped this summer, you can nominate any songs you’d like to see the band perform.

The action is going down on this voting page.

The band released New Maps of Hell this summer.
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New Rise Against guitarist Zach Blair recently spoke to The Punk Site about the band’s plans for its recently announced new full length. He laid out the band’s schedule for recording:

After this [tour] we go come home two weeks and then we go back out for a month in the States and then we’re home for about a month. Then we do the Taste of Chaos International with the Used and Aiden and the Gallows and that’s going to take us back to Europe, New Zealand, Australia, Japan, Asia and then we start writing and recording the record. So that’s going to take us till about November but then after that we get back into the studio. We’re writing for a few months and then we’re recording and hopefully it’ll be out by the summer.

The former Gwar member also confirmed that his new gig has forced him to leave Only Crime, to be replaced by Modern Life is War‘s Matt Hoffman.

A lot of people think I’m still in Only Crime, I just have no time; like Rise Against is so busy. They’ve already replaced me. They’ve got a guy named Matt from Modern Life is War. He fits in the band really, really well. They were out here with us and they did great. And that’s not easy music, those aren’t just bar chord songs, it’s some hard shit. So it takes a guy – I’m not bragging, fuck, I fucked it up – but playing with Bill Stevenson is an intimating thing so my hat’s off to the guy.

Rise Against released The Sufferer & the Witness last year.
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Hellcat Records has announced details on Orange‘s upcoming full-length. The record is titled Escape from L.A. and is due out September 11, 2007. A song entitled “What I’m Looking For” is available at the band’s MySpace page.

The last track is indeed a cover of Culture Club’s “Karma Chameleon.”

The album is the followup to Welcome to the World Of…, which was released in 2005
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Bethlehem, PA’s Street Smart Cyclist has headed out on a short U.S. tour in support of their self-titled 7″, released earlier this year in limited quantities by Our Neighborhood Records.

We described the 7″ as “a potent, totally impressive blend of Braid and caP’n Jazz.”
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At All Cost have posted two new tracks from their upcoming album, Circle of Demons that will hit stores July 31st via Century Media. Therecord is the follow up to It’s Time to Decide which was released on the short-lived Combat Records imprint.

You can find “Leaving Forever” on their myspace page and “Step One” on their message board.
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Savannah, GA’s Kylesa have sent out an update.

We’ve toured pretty heavily the past few months supporting our latest release, `Time Will Fuse its Worth,’ and everything went rather well. We’ve got a few shows starting today with awesome bands (Torche, Made Out Of Babies and Mouth Of The Architect), but we plan on taking some time off to write new material as we have a few projects coming up. Fun, creative projects, so stay in touch and we’ll keep you updated.”

The band most recently issued Time Will Fuse Its Worth.
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Think Fast! Records has posted a full album stream of Far From Finished‘s recently released album Living in the Fallout. You can check out the stream here.

The band signed to Think Fast! in April.
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Think Fast! Records has posted a full album stream of Far From Finished‘s recently released album Living in the Fallout. You can check out the stream here.

The band signed to Think Fast! in April.
Source Continue reading Far From Finished: ‘ Living in the Fallout’ →