Cooking Vinyl (home of the Buzzcocks, Turbonegro and more) have unveiled plans to release a new mini-album/EP from Pixies frontman Black Francis. He explained:

It was written, recorded and mixed in six days, and on the seventh day, Mark Lemhouse did artwork. The band for the session was myself, of course, on guitar, vocals and harmonica, Jason Carter on drums, and Violet Clark on bass. The session was produced by Jason Carter. There are seven (7) songs clocking in at 20 minutes and so I suppose it qualifies as a mini-LP under the old formats. No one seems to know or care what the current format models are (a very weakened LP on compact disc continues to rule the roost by default), which is WONDERFUL; so let’s just call it music and pay whatever price your Google research turns up.

The record is titled SVN FNGRS and is due out March 04, 2008
Source Continue reading Cooking Vinyl to issue new Black Francis (Pixies) EP →

According to reports, legendary shoemaker (and now Nike imprint) Converse is planning a major ad campaign to celebrate their 100th anniversary. The company was formed in 1908.

The report notes that living musicians M.I.A., Common, Karen O., Joan Jett, and Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong will be participating. Of some note is that the campaign will also include Ian Curtis (of Joy Division), Sid Vicious, James Dean, Hunter S. Thompson. Hopefully Converse will not repeat the mistakes of a certain boot company and actually ask first. Of course, Nike probably learned their lesson.

Source Continue reading Sid Vicious, Ian Curtis, Billie Joe Armstrong to pitch Converse in new campaign →

You’re the lucky reader of the 31st edition of the Punknews.org Vinyl File. This column aims to keep you informed with upcoming releases as well as spotlighting interesting releases, your favorite bands’ own collections and labels with a history of vinyl releases worth talking about. As always, Vinyl File is brought to you by Ben Conoley.

This week we are excited to bring you the winners of our Less Than Jake test pressing contest. We’ve also got new on new releases from Paint it Black, Isis and Flight of the Conchords.
Source Continue reading A look at upcoming relations and Less Than Jake test press winners →

Though little has been revealed about the release so far, Epitaph has announced that they will be releasing a deluxe edition of Bad Religion‘s 2007 album, New Maps of Hell.

In related news, the Harvard Humanist Society has announced that they will be presenting a Outstanding Lifetime Achievement Award in Cultural Humanism to Greg Graffin, frontman of Bad Religion and noted life sciences professor at UCLA. You can find more on that here.
Source Continue reading Epitaph plans Bad Religion “New Maps of Hell” deluxe edition →

According to a report from Rolling Stone, the Beastie Boys are currently in the studio working on their next album. The band released the purely instrumental The Mix-Up last year to simultaneous acclaim and confusion.

Little is known about the new record, but Adam Yauch notes:

It’s in the early stages of development, but it sounds cool to me. We make music and eat lunch. Sometimes we fantasize about how cool it would be if we had a chef that cooked lunch every day.

The other interesting bit of information coming from Yauch is that he is apparently working on a new film distributor which he likens to a small indie label. Beastie historians may note that the band previously ran Grand Royal which brought us classic albums from the likes of At the Drive-In.
Source Continue reading Beastie Boys in the studio →

The Ergs! have two new tracks on their myspace page. The first, “Hang Up” is an Parasites cover while the second is a live cover of Weird Al’s “I Was Only Kidding” recorded live at the Middle East.

You can find “Hang Up” and “I Was Only Kidding” on their MySpace page..

The band released Upstairs/Downstairs last year.

Update: “Hang Up” is a Parasites cover. Sorry about the mixup.
Source Continue reading The Ergs: “Hang Up (Parasites)” and “I Was Only Kidding (Weird Al)” →

The Ergs! have two new tracks on their myspace page. The first, “Hang Up” is an original while the second is a live cover of Weird Al’s “I Was Only Kidding” recorded live at the Middle East.

You can find “Hang Up” and “I Was Only Kidding” on their MySpace page..

The band released Upstairs/Downstairs last year.
Source Continue reading The Ergs: “Hang Up” and “I Was Only Kidding (Weird Al)” →

Seattle’s Minus The Bear have added North American dates to their current world tour that has them in Japan. Supporting last year’s Planet of Ice, the group will be playing a number of US festivals and dates with Portugal. The Man and The Big Sleep as well as touring through a fair amount of Canada.

Source Continue reading Tours: Minus the Bear / The Big Sleep / Portugal. The Man →

Matt Canino has sent us more news about Shorebirds. The band, which also features Jawbreaker alum Chris Bauermeister, will be releasing two new 7″s on Rumbletowne in the next few weeks.

The first will be one song on a compilation featuring Olympia, WA-based bands called We Do What We Want. It will feature Shorebirds alongside Comin’ Up Roses, Sonskull, Black Bear and Hooky with a hand-screened cover, be hand-stamped and be accompanied by a zine.

The other 7″ will be a split with Something’s Wrong out of Asheville, NC.
Source Continue reading Two new Shorebirds releases on the way →