Dave Grohl talks about Foo Fighters, DC Emo, sound of new album

With their highly anticipated follow up to In Your Honor set to drop later this year, Foo Fighters frontman recently participated in an interview with MTV. Interestingly, he begins by addressing the “emo” movement, particularly as it relates to his early years in Washington DC:

I have a funny relationship with emo. I’m from Washington, D.C., and in the mid-’80s, the hardcore scene changed from what it was — Bad Brains and Minor Threat and the Dead Kennedys and MDC — to a bunch of new bands like Rites of Spring and Embrace, [one of] which Ian MacKaye was the singer for. Everyone started labeling it ’emo-core.’ So I went to Rites of Spring’s first show, and it was a revelation. I’d never heard anything like it, and it was a really emotional experience. But in D.C., we all hated that ’emo-core’ tag.

Grohl evens take a mild shot at the scene with one track:

The title has nothing to do with the song — it’s placed right in the middle of the record, where there’s a lot of dark stuff. It’s a pretty heavy record. We have a couple bummer tunes I felt the album needed something to sit in the center and balance it. So we had this lighthearted song, and I called it ‘Cheer Up Boys (Your Make-Up Is Running)’ because it seemed like a little ray of hope in the middle of all this despair.

As for the sound of the record:

It’s all about musical exploration. We have moments of kick-you-in-the-teeth rock stuff, but there’s a lot of power in that lower dynamic too. To be able to get a room to pin-drop silence with an acoustic song that means something is sometimes even more powerful than all the lights and lasers and amps in the world.”

The record is titled Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace and is due out September 25, 2007. The band also reissued their 1997 album, The Colour and the Shape earlier this month.
Source Continue reading Dave Grohl talks about Foo Fighters, DC Emo, sound of new album

Tours: Two Gallants ready “Two Gallants,” headlining tour planned

San Francisco’s hipster ambassadors to the world, Two Gallants, have posted some tour dates in addition to their previously announced tour with the Gaslight Anthem and Against Me!. The duo will be heading across the pond to play some European festivals, then coming back to the states for a fall headlining tour. They’ll be supporting their upcoming eponymous full-length on Saddle Creek. Check out the dates below.

Two Gallants is due out September 25th, 2007 and is the follow-up to What the Toll Tells and the Scenery of Farewell acoustic EP. It was recorded at Hyde Street studios by Alex Newport (Mars Volta, At The Drive-In). More details are below.
Source Continue reading Tours: Two Gallants ready “Two Gallants,” headlining tour planned

Brian Telestai leaves I Am Ghost

I Am Ghost is shedding members. Hot on the heals of the recent departure of violinist Kerith Telestai, the Long Beach based band has now lost her husband Brian. The bassist / pianist / co-vocalist posted a statement via their message board:

As recent events have unfolded with Kerith, my wife, leaving the band, I am sad to say that I too will be leaving the band at the end of the West Coast Revival Tour with Aiden. I feel that I can no longer continue in I Am Ghost for both personal and professional reasons. I feel that Kerith is a huge part of the sound of IAG, and without her, I do not think that I could continue to tour or write music. I also feel that without her presence, the band is heading in a direction that I would not feel comfortable following due to my personal beliefs. My faith in God and my marriage to Kerith are both higher priorities than I Am Ghost, and I feel that if I were to continue in the band, both of these would be stressed to compromise

I do not resent anyone in the band, and I do no regret my time spent in IAG. I truly cherish the unbelievable moments that I have spent on stage, with the fans, and in the studio. I feel incredibly fortunate to have experienced all that I have in the short 2 years that IAG has been around. I wish the rest of the band nothing but the best as they will continue without Kerith and myself, and I would expect nothing less of them. Please continue to support IAG through these rough times. They will rock just as hard, and their next record will rock your face off!

Telestai plans to return to school at Hope International University in Fullerton, CA, then seek out a career that better reflects his religious beliefs.

I Am Ghost released Lovers’ Requiem in 2006 via Epitaph. They’re on the road now with Aiden with plans later this year to support Strung Out on both the A Wilhelm Scream leg and the Evergreen Terrace leg of their upcoming tour.
Source Continue reading Brian Telestai leaves I Am Ghost

Tours: Dashboard Confessional (Solo) / Augustana / John Ralston

Dates have been announced for a “solo” headlining tour featuring Dashboard Confessional. The lengthy jaunt will feature support from Augustana and John Ralston and kicks off September 8th in Lehi, UT.

Dashboard released Dusk and Summer in 2006. Tickets go on sale at 1pm local time today and you can buy them here.

Source Continue reading Tours: Dashboard Confessional (Solo) / Augustana / John Ralston

Funeral Diner on indefinite hiatus

Alone Records act Funeral Diner have gone on an indefinite hiatus. The band made the announcement in a myspace bulletin, saying:

“Funeral Diner will not be playing any shows or writing any new music in the foreseeable future. Thank you all for the tremendous love and support

The band is planning one final release, a split with Ampere which includes former members of Orchid.

The band’s final full length release was 2005’s The Underdark which earned five-stars from our reviewer.
Source Continue reading Funeral Diner on indefinite hiatus

Taang! Signs Everybody Out! (Dropkick Murphys, Dead Pets)

Everybody Out!, a band featuring founding Dropkick Murphys guitarist Rick Barton and Dead Pets / LCA frontman Chris ‘Sweeney’ Todd, have signed to San Diego punk label Taang! Records. The band will release a full length via the label in November of this year. They played their first ever show this past June in the UK alongside Darkbuster and Blue Bloods.

You can sample the band’s music via a collection of demo tracks on their MySpace page.
Source Continue reading Taang! Signs Everybody Out! (Dropkick Murphys, Dead Pets)

Up the Fury, Detonate, Regulations

Long Island, NY hardcore act Up the Fury (former members of This Is Hell and the Backup Plan) have osted a demo version of the song “By The Sea.” The song will appear on their upcoming full length Behind Every Mind, which will be recorded soon with Latterman vocalist / guitarist Phil Douglas producing for a fall Detonate Records release.

Dallas, Texas ska-punk act Detonate has released a new 20 song full length titled Television. You can check out two songs from the new release along with upcoming tour dates via their MySpace page.

Swedish hardcore act the Regulations have posted two songs to their MySpace page from their upcoming record Different Needs. The band is headed to the US and Canada for a tour this August, you can check out all the current dates and info via Havoc Records.
Source Continue reading Up the Fury, Detonate, Regulations

Sex Pistols plan 30th anniversary reissues, vinyl singles

Sex Pistols This year, seminal punk rock act Sex Pistols will be marking the 30th anniversary of their landmark album, Never Mind the Bollocks, with a number of special vinyl reissues.

Re-creating all the original artwork from the first editions’ front, back and onbody, and housed in unfinished heavy-weight paper sleeves, Virgin Records will be issuing the band’s four classic singles – “Anarchy In The UK”, “God Save The Queen”, “Pretty Vacant” and “Holidays In The Sun” – an a once a week basis throughout October.

The series will culminate in the release of the album in heavy weight vinyl with a seven-inch insert of the track “Submission” and poster – just as the album was originally released on October 28th 1977. This format came about when the original vinyl album was released a week earlier than planned due to French imports, and “Submission” was left off. In the original release, a one-sided 7-inch was packaged with the album featuring the song for the first 50,000 pressed.

You can check out the entire schedule of releases here.
Source Continue reading Sex Pistols plan 30th anniversary reissues, vinyl singles