Once upon a time, in a galaxy of 78 planets called The Keywork, Coheed and Cambria Kilgannon fight a battle that ultimately leads to deaths of themselves and their children. This past Spring, Coheed and Cambria released Year of the Black Rainbow, the latest, but first chapter in the Armory Wars saga – a four-part science fiction concept that has guided all of the band’s albums since its debut with Second Stage Turbine Blade back in 2002. Geeky? Yes. Pretentious? Maybe. Unique? Absolutely. Drummer Chris Pennie wasted some holiday time from his home in north-west New Jersey to chat with Punknews contributor Gen Handley about life in Coheed and Cambria, his past in the Dillinger Escape Plan and how playing drums for Coheed songs on Rock Band isn’t exactly comparable to the real thing.
Source Continue reading Interviews: Chris Pennie (Coheed and Cambria) →

The third leg of the Where’s The Band? Tour has been announced, this time covering five dates on the east coast and featuring Dustin Kensrue (Thrice), Matt Pryor (The Get Up Kids, The New Amsterdams), Chris Conley (Saves The Day, Two Tongues), and Anthony Raneri (Bayside).

Source Continue reading Tours: Dustin Kensrue / Matt Pryor / Chris Conley / Anthony Raneri (Where’s The Band? Tour) →

Smoke Or Fire have announced four post-Fest dates around the southeast. All shows will feature support from Pericles and the final show of the run in Richmond, VA will also feature Frank Turner.

Smoke or Fire are gearing up to release their third full-length The Speakeasy on November 9, 2010.
Source Continue reading Tours: Smoke or Fire / Pericles (Southeast US) →

Rancid have posted the video for “Young Al Capone.” The track comes from Rancid (2000).

Source Continue reading Rancid: “Young Al Capone” →

Micheal “Eyedea” Larsen, member of The Rhymesayers passed away at 28. According to Twin Cities City Pages, he was found yesterday morning. His mother, Kathy Averill said this on his Facebook profile:

it is with great pain and sadness that I tell you my son Mikey (Eyedea) has passed away. At this time we kindly request your respect and our privacy as we process this devastating loss. On behalf of Mikey’s family, close friends and fans, thank you.

Our deepest condolences to his friends, family and fans.
Source Continue reading Michael “Eyedea” Larson (1981-2010) →

Our stream today comes from Allston, MA power trio The Cold Beat in the form of their new full-length Get Safe.

Our reviewer Joe Pelone described the album as “Containing flecks of punk and alt-country and falling somewhere in between the Replacements, the Get Up Kids and late-period Nada Surf, the group’s new record Get Safe is a breezy, infectious listen. It’s catchy mood music.” Judge for yourself at the band’s Punknews.org Profile.
Source Continue reading The Cold Beat: ‘Get Safe’ →

Former Madball drummer Jay Weinberg has responded to the criticisms and implications made by vocalist Freddy Cricien about his departure. He disputes that he was fired, and adds:

However, Freddy has grossly mischaracterized my time with the band in the press; yet I have not responded publicly to any Madball statements. It is true that everyone is entitled to their own opinions – but not their own facts!

I agree that Madball will be better served by an individual more attuned to their particular lifestyle and, occasionally, a new band member will grind gears with long-time members over non-musical issues. To each his own. But, let me be clear – while I really enjoyed playing the music, I do not subscribe to their choice of habits and lifestyle. This past August while on tour in Europe, disturbing events within the band indicated to me that it was time for me to move on. Timing is everything, and who would disagree that one cannot be fired after having quit – decisively, amicably, and well in advance of Freddy’s harsh and public “spin” of the facts.

Check out his statement on his Facebook Profile.
Source Continue reading Jay Weinberg responds to Madball comments →

The Washington Post has more details about the beating death of a man outside the DC9 nightclub last week after an Agnostic Front show. According to the report, five men were charged with aggravated assault Saturday in the beating of Ali Ahmed Mohammed. All five men were released after a court proceeding Saturday and were placed in a high-intensity supervision program, which includes electronic monitoring.

Mohammed had tried to enter DC9 but was refused at the door. He responded by throwing a brick through the club’s front window and the five men left the bar and chased him. The five people named include DC9 co-owner William Spieler, and four employees: Darryl Carter Jr., Reginald Phillips, Evan Preller and Arthur Andrew Zaloga. Witnesses said they saw Carter, Zaloga, Spieler and Phillips “stomp the victim on the head and the body” as Preller held him down, the document states.
Source Continue reading Five employees of DC9 arrested in beating death →

Bad Religion frontman and Anarchy Evolution author Greg Graffin recently stopped by NPR discuss the new book as well as religion, science and punk rock. Check out the interview here.

Bad Religion is currently on tour with Bouncing Souls and Off with Their Heads in support of their new album, The Dissent of Man.
Source Continue reading Greg Graffin talks to NPR →

Me First and The Gimme Gimmes have revealed the plans for the rest of their recently announced new EP:

Any new Me First music on the way? No, we don’t have a new record. It’s getting harder and harder to find good songs to cover. There are no more good songs in the world! We’ve done ’em all. Like, we’re doing an EP of all these Australian artists, since we’re touring down there…let me tell you, it’s hard finding five good Australian songs. We’re doing Rick Springfield! People are like, “Do Crowded House, do Midnight Oil.” We won’t because they’re terrible 80s bands. Oh, and the Bee Gees…fuck! Disco was terrible. People look back on those eras…there’s nothing romantic about it. The 80s were terrible, too -all hair metal and stupid dance-pop.

The infamous punk rock covers supergroup last released Have Another Ball in 2008, and will be touring the east coast later this month with labelmates Teenage Bottlerocket and Cobra Skulls, including an appearance at The Fest 9 in Gainesville, FL over Halloween weekend, where we can only speculate as to what their costumes may be.
Source Continue reading New Me First and the Gimme Gimmes EP →

OFF! recently appeared on Last Call with Carson Daly and performed their first EP in its entirety, which clocks in at around four minutes if you’re scoring at home.

The band is the new project from Keith Morris (Black Flag, Circle Jerks), Dimitri Coates (Burning Brides), Steven Shane McDonald (Redd Kross) and Mario Rubalcaba (Rocket From The Crypt, Hot Snakes). Their first four EPs will be compiled into a box set and released on November 23, 2010.
Source Continue reading OFF! featured on Carson Daly, plays entire EP →

KISS guitarist Gene Simmons’ recent rant about copyright infringement has put him in the crosshairs for Internet vigilante group, Anonymous. The loosely affiliated group previously took on the Church of Scientology with online and offline protests and began by taking down genesimmons.com/. Simmons responded – as per his M.O. – by threatening a lawsuit and prison rape:

And, as stated in my MIPCOM speech, we will sue their pants off. First, they will be punished. Second, they might find their little butts in jail, right next to someone who’s been there for years and is looking for a new girl friend.

Unfortunately, DDOS attacks like the one Simmons refers to are notoriously difficult to trace, since by their nature they come from thousands of separate machines simultaneously, some of which are compromised.
Source Continue reading Gene Simmons goes to war with Anonymous →

Energy drink behemoth Red Bull has backpedaled a bit in their Noise Complaint marketing campaign. The original plans for the campaign called for a competition among bands, with four semi-finalists winning the “opportunity” to play a basement show in New Brunswick, NJ, with the winner grabbing an opening slot on Thursday‘s year-end Full Collapse anniversary show at Starland Ballroom in Sayreville on December 30. Members of Thursday were to be part of the panel judging the bands.

Many folks in the New Brunswick basement show community cried foul on the marketing campaign, citing concerns that it seemed to suggest that basement and house shows weren’t inclusive and acknowledging that the company had either ignored or failed to realize that many artists elect to play these spaces to avoid influence from corporations such as, say, Red Bull. Aaron Scott of Attica! Attica! launched a Facebook campaign here in protest of the marketing campaign, eliciting an impassioned response. Shortly after the backlash started, Red Bull decided to move the competition to New Brunswick venue and non-basement The Court Tavern. Company representative Keith Wescott posted this statement on the campaign’s Facebook page:

“We do not want to bring attention to something that would potentially cause the City of New Brunswick to shut down even more basement shows than they already do. Show will be on Saturday November 13th from 3:30 PM to 6:30 PM, all ages, no cover. Bands will be announced on Monday.”

The competition will continue as planned at The Court Tavern, with Thursday still involved in selecting the winner.
Source Continue reading Red Bull moves ‘Noise Complaint’ campaign to venue, away from basement →