Though it is not an end of their legal problems, Hawthorne Heights has won a portion of their current lawsuit against former label Victory Records.

There are a number of cases being fought, the first – brought by the band – contends that the band could leave the label due to promotional actions taken by Victory that damaged their reputation.

The label countersued, claiming that the band could not jump ship to sign to EMI, the second involves the label formed by Hawthorne Heights vocalist JT Woodruff and the third involves their new label, EMI.

In this situation, a judge ruled against Victory in a case which could affect the ongoing case with EMI as well. Victory had claimed that Hawthorne Heights were signed to the label and could not leave for EMI, but a judge ruled that Victory did not in fact hold exclusive rights for the band’s recording services. Simply put, it means the band can record for any label. The judge explained:

The agreement contains no exclusivity provision, nor does any of its language appear to prevent [the band] from recording elsewhere during the life of the agreement

In short, this means that the band is allowed to sign to EMI, and this case could potentially influence Victory’s case against EMI as well.
Source Continue reading A win for Hawthorne Heights in Victory lawsuit →

After members of the band in NOFX return from Asia, Me First And The Gimme Gimmes will be heading to Europe for a series of dates in support of their latest release Love Their Country.

Source Continue reading Tours: Me First And The Gimme Gimmes (Europe) →

Chris Murray is heading out on tour soon, taking his acoustic ska act on the road. In April he’ll be touring the UK with Satori, former RX Bandit Steve Borth’s reggae act, and then in May will be touring around mainland Europe with the Ska Mutiny Tour which features Regatta 69, Dr. Ring Ding and King Django.

Mr. Murray is also starting up a label, dubbed “Unstrictly Roots,” which will be a co-venture with his Bluebeat Lounge partner in crime Robin Strauss. The first release will be a domestic release of Slackness, an album that Murray recorded with the Slackers and features some new songs and rearrangements of past Murray tunes. The release was previously only available in Japan. The second release will be one-man-roots-blues-band Rizorkestra and is due out in April.
Source Continue reading Tours: Chris Murray (UK, Europe) →

O Pioneers! have apparently been slaving away in a studio somewhere recording new songs. Said studio, Pigeon Eater, has posted a new track from the band entitled “PhD.” You can hear the track at the studio’s MySpace page.

The band released Black Mambas last year, which you can coincidentally still stream at their Punknews band profile. Hot diggity.
Source Continue reading New O Pioneers! track available →

Sudbury, Ontario’s The Dead Sale have just finished recording 4 new demo songs, which are currently streaming on MySpace. The band is currently busy writing new material for their debut full-length which is scheduled to be recorded this summer/fall and later released on Barcode Records.

Circle of Vultures have released 2 exclusive tracks entitled “Courthouse Blues” and “Ghost Train” from their forthcoming release Murder City Limits due out on May 22nd. You can check out the tracks here.

Scottish pop punk band The Try Hards have posted a version of “Mongoloid” by 80’s new wave band Devo. The track can be downloaded for free through Last.fm. The band recently contributed 3 songs to a compilation cd out on Day Job Records
Source Continue reading The Dead Sale, Circle of Vultures, the Try Hards →

Allister have announced that at least for the time-being, the band is seperating:

Before we left for this last Japanese tour in October, Tim got the news that he was going to become a father. We had the whole 3 months in Japan to discuss what would become of Allister, and in the end Tim made the responsible decision to start a job that wouldn’t take him out of the country for months at a time. He wanted to be home with his girlfriend during the pregnancy, and throughout the upbringing of their child. We had already confirmed a Japanese tour for March, and since Tim has already entered the work force, we have asked his brother Chris to join us overseas.

We will be booking a show in Chicago, which for all intents and purposes will be billed as our last show. I’ll post the info when it comes.

Allister has been trucking along for a good 10 years now, and in that time we’ve been fortunate enough to travel around the world playing music that we love. We’ve met so many amazing people, and I feel really fortunate to have been a part of this band… Before I get too sappy, I just want to say thanks to everyone who supported us over the years. Who knows what the future will hold, but for the time being this is just the beginning of a new chapter…

The band celebrated their 10th anniversary together last year and released a number of albums including Last Stop Suburbia in 2002 and Before the Blackout in 2005.
Source Continue reading Allister (1996-2007) →

Details including a final track listing have been announced for the upcoming tribute to Sick Of It All announced last October. The record is titled Our Impact Will Be Felt: A Tribute to Sick Of It All and is due out April 24, 2007

The 20-track album will feature songs performed by bands including Rise Against, Unearth, Ignite, Comeback Kid, Napalm Death, Bane, Pennywise, Bouncing Souls, Suicide Machines and many more.

The label is also promising two new songs streaming each week until the album is released. Right now, you can hear the Bouncing Souls take on “Good Looking Out” and Hatebreed’s version of “Ratpack” right here.

Source Continue reading Sick Of It All tribute details →

hellogoodbye have announced a US tour set to begin in April. The band will support their recent full length, Zombies! Aliens! Vampires! Dinosaurs!

Tickets are available through this link.

Source Continue reading Tours: Hellogoodbye →

Fearless today announced two high profile additions to their upcoming Punk Goes Acoustic 2 compilation. Both the All-American Rejects and Say Anything will be contributing material to the disc. The bands join theAudition, Mayday Parade and Set Your Goals, Jack’s Manequin and Anti-Flag.

The previous Punk Goes Acoustic compilation was released in 2003 and distinguished itself from the rest of the series by featuring original material performed by the original artists. Other iterations, including Punk Goes 90’s, Punk Goes 80’s, Punk Goes Pop and Punk Goes Metal were made up of cover songs.

Punk Goes Acoustic marked the debut of Rise Against’s wildly successful “Swing Life Away” and included acoustic renditions performed by Thursday, Coalesce, Strung Out, Strike Anywhere and more.
Source Continue reading Punk Goes Acoustic 2 adds All-American Rejects, Say Anything →

Frankie Stubbs, the legendary guitarist and vocalist behind Leatherface has recorded a new solo track. The song is unusual as it does not feature Frankie’s trademark guitar, but instead is built from piano and violin.

Stubbs notes that he intends to do an entire album of this kind of material and would like to enlist the pianist and violinist from the recording but they “are 12 million miles away.”

You can check out “My Heart is Home” on his myspace page.
Source Continue reading Frankie Stubbs (Leatherface) posts new solo material →

Joel Madden of Good Charlotte has been accused of battering a woman in Beverly Hills. According to gossip site TMZ, which also has video and photos, the Beverly Hills Police Department is investigating rocker Joel Madden, after a female photographer filed a “crime report” claiming he attacked her during a violent confrontation Sunday night.

According to police sources, the woman claimed Madden struck her on the left breast “with the heel of his hand” as the rocker tried to escort his girlfriend, Nicole Richie, out of the back door of Mr. Chow restaurant in Beverly Hills. The photographer told TMZ that she has a welt to prove it, and had to see a doctor for treatment.

Madden can be seen throwing a forceful, open-handed stiff-arm into the chest of another paparazzo, moments after the alleged incident. Police reps also tell TMZ that they take every claim seriously, and a crime report was taken on this incident.

Madden’s band is currently gearing up for the release of Good Mourning Revival. The record is due out March 22nd.
Source Continue reading Joel Madden (Good Charlotte) accused of battering a woman →

It’s Sunday February 25th, 2007. Now, some may call it lazy to just take the squid from last week’s article and Photoshop in something blatantly obvious, but I’ll have you know it was the result of intense debate and scrutiny over here. Well… it was the result of my girlfriend and I sitting on the couch and watching TV. That’s sort of the same thing.

The people must have something good to read on a Sunday

Rise Against has lost yet another guitarist as Chris Chasse has left the popular Chicago punk band. Replacing him is Zach Blair of Only Crime. So Rage Against The Machine‘s one-off reunion is set to last a little bit longer, as the group is set to play three shows with Wu-Tang Clan. Speaking of reunions, albeit little bit lower profile reunions, Inquisition has added a second show. We had a report from the road that Reggie and the Full Effect‘s James DeWees is performing with pop stars My Chemical Romance on their current tour. All these tours better be careful at the 49th, as the Canada-US border is posing more trouble for bands on the road.

On the subject of tours, we’ve got dates for NOFX‘s April Asian tour and even more Warped Tour confirmations. Look for bands like Flogging Molly, the Briefs and Hawthorne Heights this year. One show that’s got everyone buzzing is an upcoming Naked Raygun gig with Dillinger Four and the Bollweevils. On the media front this week brought a Fall Out Boy remix by Kanye West, a new Against Me! track debuted via a live video, and news of an upcoming Pulley DVD

We brought you a couple of new streams this week, including the new full length from Smoke Or Fire and the split between Boston ska act Big D & The Kids Table and Beijing punks Brain Failure. Our MP3 Of The Week featured music from Chicago’s the Ponys and inblackandwhite.

Click Read More to see this week’s streaming music, contests and other highlights.
Source: http://www.punknews.org/article/22419. Continue reading February 25th, 2007 →

Southern California ska/punk/reggae outfit Slightly Stupid has started recording on their new album. It’s the first studio album since 2005’s Closer to the Sun and first release since their Acoustic Roots Live & Direct.
Source: http://www.punknews.org/article/22418. Continue reading Slightly Stoopid recording new album →