The full lineup for this year’s Musicfest NW 2007 here in Portland OR has been announced. The diverse bill will include bands like the Thermals, Lifetime, Pistola, the Fucking Champs, Spoon, the Bronx, Rilo Kiley, Wolf Parade and many, many more.

The festival takes place Sept 6-9th at many venues throughout the city. You can buy tickets, preview some of the bands and find more information on the festival’s official website.

Source Continue reading MusicFest NW to include Thermals, Lifetime, Rilo Kiley, Wolf Parade, Spoon →

Canadian noise/hardcore provocateurs Cursed have sent us an update on progress towards their next album, III. Unsurprisingly, the album is the follow up to II (and I). The band had this to say:

Okay. So here’s an official statement, as our website has fallen a bit behind. All of III is now recorded, and 80% mixed as of today. It was engineered by our sound bro Donny Cooper (who recorded both the Hell Comes Home and Blackout at Sunrise EPs) and Paul Aucoin at HallaMusic in Toronto, and is being mixed by the great Pete Hudson.

So there, it’s real. Our site should be back up to speed soon, with videos. Donny’s been making a video of the III studio sessions, he might cut it together and put it on YouTube so you all can check it out if you want to really smell the fuckin’ magic.”

Source Continue reading Updates from Cursed →

For my first update from my two week excursion with New Jersey’s The Gaslight Anthem, I’ve uploaded a special video on the road. Here’s some footage from a stop on the tour in Normal, IL. Unknown to us prior to the show, the host of the party had booked the band as an engagement present to his fiancee, and proposed to her in the middle of the set. Congratulations to the lucky couple!

Source Continue reading Punknews.org Feature: On the Road With The Gaslight Anthem →

I recently spoke with Jeph Howard of The Used about their new album, Lies for the Liars. We actually talked in May, but due to a variety of problems that would probably make for a wacky British sitcom, the interview has been delayed until today.

Jeph and I talked about the recent defection of drummer Brandon Steineckert, who joined Rancid, their successes and the record itself.

Source Continue reading Interviews: The Used →

With their new record, Venom and Tears, due out August 07, 2007, Throwdown has posted a sampler of their new record. The player includes samples of all the songs on the album.

The band will be traveling the country as part of this year’s Warped Tour line-up.

You can preview the record here.
Source Continue reading Throwdown: “Venom & Tears” →

Motion City Soundtrack‘s Justin Pierre recently discussed the bands upcoming full length. The record is titled Even If It Kills Me and is due out September 18, 2007. It is the follow-up to Commit This To Memory which was released in 2005.

Justin focused on three songs in particular, noting influences like Ben Folds, lyrical influences from Bob Nanna (Braid, Hey Mercedes) You can check out the entire thing here.
Source Continue reading Justin Pierre talks about upcoming MCS album →

Thursday, fresh off the major label treadmill and currently unsigned, have sent out an email asking fans to submit footage for their upcoming CD+DVD retrospective release. The band explained:

We have been hard at work on our DVD/CD project and we realized we could use your help! If any of you out there has video footage of us playing live and or hanging out we’d love to see it. We might even be able to use it on the DVD. If the footage that you send in winds up getting used in the final edit, your name will appear in the credits of the dvd and we will send you an autographed copy of it.

As with all projects of this nature, there are some legal matters to deal with. You can click Read More for details on how to submit footage and how to make sure the band can actually use it.
Source Continue reading Thursday looking for fan footage for upcoming CD+DVD →

Frank Black, the legendary singer/songwriter behind The Pixies is the latest musician to participate in Lil’ Bush, the star studded new animated series from Comedy Central. The show includes Iggy Pop, Jeff Tweedy, Colin Meloy, Dave Grohl, The Red Hot Chili Peppers and more. It is a series of cartoons created by Donick Cary, a writer of The Simpsons. The show previously appeared on recently defunct mobile carrier Amp’d Mobile, and has been picked up a six episode run beginning this month. Pop will be playing Lil Rummy, and other characters include Lil’ Condi, Lil’ Cheney, Lil’ Jeb and of course, Lil Bush.

In science class, Lil’ George struggles with the concept of evolution and along the way finds ‘Goddy’ (voiced by Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy), while Lil’ Cheney meets the Devil as played by Black.
Source Continue reading Frank Black on Lil’ Bush tonight →

With their new record A Natural Death due out August 28, 2007, HORSE the Band has released the final art and track listing for the record. The disc is the follow-up to Pizza which was released in 2006. Prior to that EP, the band released their previous full length, The Mechanical Hand in 2005.

Source Continue reading Horse The Band present “A Natural Death” details →

Rilo Kiley have announced a fall tour in support of their upcoming new record. The record is titled Under the Blacklight and is due out August 21, 2007. It is the follow-up to More Adventurous which was released in 2004.

A limited number of tickets for each show have been held for Rilo Kiley fans and will be available through a presale that begins Wednesday, July 18th at 12pm local time.

Source Continue reading Tours: Rilo Kiley →

This past weekend Kelly Johnson, guitarist for all-female heavy metal / hard rock act Girlschool passed away. She had been battling spinal cancer for the past six years.

Kelly joined the band in 1978, debuting on their 1980 full length Demolition. The band were frequently associated with tour mates and collaborators Motörhead and played a major part of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement. Kelly left the band in 1984 following their fourth full length Play Dirty and moved to Los Angeles. She rejoined the act in 1993 and moved back to the UK. Kelly’s second run with the band ended with 2001’s Not That Innocent: 21st Anniversary.

Our deepest condolences go out to Kelly’s friends and family.
Source Continue reading Kelly Johnson of Girlschool (1958-2007) →

HR, the enigmatic lead vocalist of hardcore pioneers Bad Brains recently participated in an interview while the band was aboard “The Temptress” cruise ship prior to their recent New York City show. The band most recently released their long-awaited new full length, Build a Nation.

You can check it out here.
Source Continue reading HR of Bad Brains speaks (in rare video interview) →

MTV has put together a list of upcoming records that will probably suck, and why. I know, it sounds weird coming from MTV, but there it is. Besides ripping into some non-Punknews.org acts like 50 Cent and Blake Lewis, the artist looks at upcoming albums from bands like Panic! At the Disco, Weezer, Thrice, Cobra Starship and more.

Their take on Panic! At the Disco?

Panic don’t exactly have a lot of “cred” on their side, and the success of their A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out record was seen by pretty much everyone as a monumental fluke. Which means that they’ve got an awful lot to prove on album number two … and that’s not always a good thing. […] You’ve got the makings of perhaps the biggest sophomore flameout since Terence Trent D’Arby’s Neither Fish Nor Flesh, a fact made even more troubling when you consider that most of the dudes in this band were, like, 1 when that album came out.

How about critically acclaimed post-hardcore act Thrice?

Because no matter what Dustin Kensrue and company will tell you about “changing the band’s sound” and “pushing boundaries” — something they seemingly do whenever there’s a new album to promote — everything the band does sounds exactly the same. Throw in a half-baked “concept” (four EPs, each based on one of the Earth’s elements) and this one has the potential to blow everything past, present or future directly out of the water in terms of suckitude.

Weezer?

Expect hooks-by-the-books and unabashed stadium anthems hidden beneath a veneer of self-deprecation and humility (which, at this point, is so beyond annoying that it’s not even funny). Also, Weezer haven’t been good since Pinkerton, and I’m pretty sure the bass player dude hates me.

And, of course, Cobra Starship: It will suck “Because Cobra Starship are involved.”

You can check out the whole story here.
Source Continue reading Things that will suck: Panic! At the Disco, Thrice, Weezer, Cobra Starship →