Bruce Springsteen has announced a new live digital EP that will see proceeds go to Danny Federici Melanoma Fund. The fund is named for the late organ, glockenspiel, and accordion player for Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band.

The disc includes Bruce collaborating with a number of notable musicians, including Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine who together performed “The Ghost of Tom Joad.” Other artists include Alejandro Escovedo, Roger McGuinn and Sandy.

It is due out exclusively via digital retailers on July 15th.
Source Continue reading Springsteen plans guest-filled charity EP →

Gaslight Anthem are just over a month away from the release of their second album, The ’59 Sound. The New Jersey-based band has had quite an explosive year with their breakout debut Sink or Swim as well as a well-received follow-up EP Señor and the Queen. The band is spending some time on the Warped Tour this summer and recently caught up with Punknews interviewer Zack Shapiro.

Source Continue reading Interviews: Gaslight Anthem →

As rumoured, None More Black‘s highly anticipated reunion shows this past weekend have blossomed into a full reunion with both recording and touring on the horizon. The band explained via their blog:

So what next? The creative juices are boiling. That means it’s time to start writing a new record. We’ll hit a stage near you as soon as we can. It feels damn good to be back.

In the interim period where None More Black was inactive, frontman Jason Shevchuk joined members of Red Sparowes to form LaGrecia. That band’s sole release is currently streaming on their Punknews.org Profile.
Source Continue reading None More Black reunion shows become full-blown reunion →

According to a recent report, Rise Against have completed work on their forthcoming full length. Lead singer Tim McIlrath spoke to Gigwise about the release:

It’s mostly finished and is coming together really well. We’ve been working with Bill Stephenson and Jason Livermore. They’re really amazing producers. “The more we delve into this music world and the bigger we get, the more we realise that we have nothing in common with that community. And it’s a weird, strange, foreign place.

The band is apparently mulling over Moon Rock as a potential album title.
Source Continue reading Rise Against finish new album →

Shook Ones have posted a new song from their forthcoming split with Hour of the Wolf. The latter band recently released a Split with Lewd Acts while the former shared a disc with End of A Year and Easel in 2007 splits.

You can find the song on this myspace page.
Source Continue reading Shook Ones: “Double Knot That” →

Slayer, Mastodon and Trivium have announced The Unholy Alliance Chapter III tour which will see the three bands hitting venues in Europe this fall.

Source Continue reading Tours: Slayer / Mastodon / Trivium →

The bulk of the lineup for Belgium’s 2008 Pukkelpop has been announced. Nearly 100 bands have been confirmed so far for the event which will be headlined by Metallica, The Killers, Sigur Ros, Bloc Party and more. Other bands include The Flaming Lips, Serj Tankian, Dropkick Murphys, Plain White T’s, Killswitch Engage, Neurosis, Iron & Wine, Dresden Dolls, Thrice, Anti-Flag, Less Than Jake, Alkaline Trio, As I Lay Dying, Bob Mould, Cult of Luna, Henry Rollins, MxPx, The Casualties, Holy Fuck, A Wilhelm Scream, Two Gallants, The Unseen, Have Heart and many, many more.

Source Continue reading Alkaline Trio, A Wilhelm Scream, Dropkick Murphys, Anti-Flag, Less Than Jake at Pukkelpop →

The short list for the 2008 Polaris Music Prize has been announced. CBC Radio 3‘s Grant Lawrence (we affectionately remember him as a Smuggler) made the announcement in Toronto this morning with last year’s winner Patrick Watson. The short list of bands vying for the $20,000 prize includes the Weakerthans, Black Mountain, Plants and Animals, Basia Bulat, Stars, Caribou, Shad, Kathleen Edwards, Two Hours Traffic and Holy Fuck. An 178 member jury, which included Punknews’ own Ben Conoley, pared down the initial list of 40 nominated albums. An 11 member grand jury will decide the winner at an awards ceremony in Toronto on Sept 29.

The Polaris prize, inspired by Britian’s Mercury Prize, was founded by Steve Jordan and sets out to recognize the best full-length Canadian album of the past year. The albums are judged on artistic merit and without regard to genre or sales figures.
Source Continue reading The Weakerthans, Black Mountain, Stars on Polaris short list →

In a lengthy interview which saw Thomas Barnett talking about human rights festivals, fans’ ideals, political agendas, the boring life of selfishness, the beauty of Peggy’s Cove and more, Barnett noted the band’s upcoming recording plans:

Since none of us live in the same cities anymore, it would be [nearly] impossible to get together and rehearse and write for too long. So I think it works. We’re going to spend some time this fall together; face to face in a basement, rehearsing, writing and making pre-production demos.

That’s when you always get to kick it back to that. You can have some seed ideas for a song with some cool chord progressions and vocals and you can talk about it back and forth; but to get together and actually play it loud and fast is very important. We do that this fall.

The band has toured extensively in support of 2006’s Dead FM.
Source Continue reading Strike Anywhere to work on new material in the fall →

As they hinted in December of last year, Bouncing Souls will be trying something a little different for their next series of releases. Frontman Greg Attonito explained:

[We] have been getting some good songwriting done for the past few months. Thanks to the internet and Protools we have been able to exchange some good sounding music ideas that are turning into great songs! We should have a few ready to bust out on the Warped Tour.
The Bouncing Souls 20 year celebration in 2009 is going to be full of new music! Be ready on the first of each month in 09 to download each new song.

Greg also points people to his wife Shanti’s myspace page which has some new music that Shanti will be performing at the Warped Tour from July 16th – August 8th. Greg will be drumming in Shanti’s live band as well.
Source Continue reading Bouncing Souls plan downloadable song on the first of every month in 2009 →

Minus The Bear recorded a live set featuring four tracks in support of their recently reissued EP, They Make Beer Commercials Like This.

You can check out the four songs as streams or downloads here.

There is also a story, but it remains unconfirmed whether it is a poem, stream-of-consciousness writing or some sort of story. Caveat Reader.
Source Continue reading Minus the Bear records for Daytrotter Session →

Brooklyn’s the Brass have posted a number of new songs as they begin booking shows and looking for a label. The group features ex-members of On The Might Of Princes, Latterman, Splurge, The Exelar and Potboiler and recorded four songs with Phil Douglas (also ex-Latterman) a few weeks ago.

You can check out two of the tracks on their myspace page.
Source Continue reading The Brass (On the Might of Princes, Latterman, Splurge) debut new music →

To Die For Clothing has rganized a massive group of some of today’s most talented artists to participate in the Sea No Evil art show, which aims to preserve and protect the oceans of the world. The show includes The AKAs‘ Mike Ski as a contributing artist, and opens this Saturday, July 12th at the Riverside Art Museum in Riverside, CA.

You can find some more information on the event here.
Source Continue reading The A.K.A.s’ Mike Ski to participate in Sea No Evil Art Show Benefit →