Touch and Go Records has posted the first artist spotlight in their series of mini-videos documenting their recent 25th Anniversary Block Party held at the Hideout in Chicago, IL. The three day event was marked by performances from legendary band’s including Big Black, Shellac, Negative Approach, Pegboy, The Ex and many, many more.

The series begins this week with an artist spotlight on one of the newest bands signed to the label and the label is promising band-specific clips from every set of the weekend. Last week, the label promised both “a little old-school,” and this week’s selection: “a band that’s so-new-they-haven’t-released-a-record-on-touch-and-go-yet.”

You can check out both some live songs and interviews with Ted Leo and the Pharmacists right here.
Read more at: Continue reading Touch and Go posts Ted Leo clip from 25th Anniversary Party →

S.O.S. Records have announced they will be turning the successful “British Invasion” punk festival series of the Los Angeles area into a U.S. tour.

The British Are Coming 2007 touring festival will be headlined by punk legends the Exploited, and will also feature the return of Final Conflict, a rare stateside appearance by Belgium’s Funeral Dress (3/9 to 3/17) and psychobilly pioneers Phantom Rockers (3/19 to 3/24). Resilience, the Ghouls, and So Unloved will also appear, though specific dates have not been mentioned.

The Exploited’s previous excursions to North America have been marred with difficulties both in 2003 and also in 2005.

Read more at: Continue reading Tours: The Exploited to headline SOS Records “The British Are Coming” 2007 tour →

France’s Seventeen Records has announced plans to release a special commemorative 25th anniversary edition of Only Theatre of Pain, the debut album from deathrock pioneers, Christian Death.

This album featured the band’s original lineup including Rikk Agnew of the Adolescents and late vocalist Rozz Williams. The label will be remastering the entire 1988 album, andf include the original Deathwish bonus tracks as well as a booklet of photographs and detailed liner notes.

The CD will be distributed in North America by Christian Death’s original US label, Frontier Records and available in France through Seventeen.
Read more at: Continue reading Seventeen Records plan 25th Anniversary Christian Death reissue →

Members of Red Leader act Dead Tonight have formed a new project with the frontman from Saturday Supercade.

The new band has dubbed itself Young Hearts and you can check out two songs on their myspace page.
Read more at: Continue reading Members of Dead Tonight, Saturday Supercade form Young Hearts →

Huntington, WV based act Social Junk will be going out on tour starting on Feb 10th with Kissy Kissalots. They will soon be releasing their full length Somebody Should’ve Told You this spring on Project Active Media..

Three songs from their album are available for download at Project Active Media’s website.

Read more at: Continue reading Tours: Social Junk / Kissy Kissalots →

Details have surfaced regarding the soundtrack to The Future is Unwritten, the new documentary about the late, great Joe Strummer. According to Billboard, the packed soundtrack features a previously unreleased live version of the Clash‘s “I’m So Bored With the U.S.A.” alongside tracks from Elvis Presley, the MC5, Bob Dylan, Woody Guthrie and Nina Simone.

“The Future Is Unwritten,” which recently premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, was assembled using a combination of old interviews collected from journalists as well as tapes of Strummer’s BBC radio show. It features testimonials from members of the Clash as well Bono, Johnny Depp, Martin Scorsese, Courtney Love, Flea and John Cusack among many others.

The film was produced by documentary filmmaker Julien Temple, who was responsible for the definitive Sex Pistols documentary The Filth and the Fury as well as the infamous mockumentary The Great Rock ‘n’ Roll Swindle. Though Strummer tragically passed away in 2002, Temple had already shot many hours of footage to be used in the film.

Among songs from the 101’ers and Mescaleros the soundtrack includes the song “(In The) Pouring Rain” credited to Clash II. This was one of the unreleased songs played on tour during the band’s Cut The Crap era. It is notable that the band is credited as “Clash II” and not simply “The Clash.” While fans often deride the post-Combat Rock period and official band histories tend to ignore it, this may be the first time the Clash II moniker has been used on a non-bootleg recording.

Read more at: Continue reading Joe Strummer "The Future Is Unwritten" soundtrack →

According to an Associated Press report, a 16-year-old boy being sued by five record companies accused the recording industry on Tuesday of violating antitrust laws, conspiring to defraud the courts and making extortionate threats.

Robert Santangelo, who was 11 when the alleged piracy occurred, denied ever sharing music and said it’s impossible to prove that he did. Before suing Robert, the industry sued his mother and when she refused to settle, dropped the suit and charged both him and his 15 year old sister.

Santangelo also claims that the record companies, which have filed more than 18,000 piracy lawsuits in federal courts, “have engaged in a wide-ranging conspiracy to defraud the courts of the United States.” The suit also alleges that the companies, “ostensibly competitors in the recording industry, are a cartel acting collusively in violation of the antitrust laws and public policy” by bringing the piracy cases jointly and using the same agency “to make extortionate threats … to force defendants to pay.”
Read more at: Continue reading Teen takes on the recording industry, alledges collusion, extortion →

The Ducky Boys have called it a day. Frontman Mark Lind made the announcement saying:

Some people probably don’t get it since the Ducky Boys have always sort of been “my band” (not to take anything away from Jay but he and I have discussed this and he knows what I mean when I say that). Basically I’ve been in a band for 12 years and there are a lot of associations that go with it. Regular practice nights, managing schedules of a variety of people, taking into account their personal lives, the repetition of the cycle – release record, play shows, possible tours etc etc etc. At this juncture I just don’t want to be “in a band”. I want to take time to myself and only worry about myself.

My decision has nothing to do with the people involved and it isn’t anything personal against them. It just has to do with people in general. I want to circle the wagons and keep a tight leash on who has a hand in my life and, as part of it, my music…. because that’s all I really have. I’m a person that has chosen not to have a family – I barely even speak to my parents – but having a band is like having a series of significant others and I just need to be single for a while.

Last year the band released The War Back Home and Lind released the solo album Death or Jail.
Read more at: Continue reading The Ducky Boys (1995-2007) →

Love Equals Death have announced that they were recently robbed in Sacramento. The band detailed the incident in their blog:

We were in Sacramento and we went to Walmart for 30 minutes to buy a clip light for the merch area so people could see the T-shirts. While we were in the store, some asshole came up to our locked van, popped the lock with a tool, unlocked the van, and it seems like two of them quickly grabbed the G.P.S. that Chon got for Christmas and we had been using to find venues on this tour, two Ipods (mine and Tonio’s), Tonio’s backpack, Chon’s laptop, and my new laptop. That’s it…

The band will head into the studio next month to record three tracks for a split with Death By Stereo.
Read more at: Continue reading Love Equals Death robbed →

Punknews Records hooligans Ryan’s Hope have embarked on a brief tour of the midwest, which includes two dates with Fat Wreck Chords heartthrobs the Loved Ones. Additionally, the band will be playing a benefit on February 10 to help out fellow heartland brethren Much the Same after a recent van accident.

Ryan’s Hope continue to support last year’s PNR debut, Apocalypse in Increments. Stay tuned, as we’ll be posting a contest for some of the tour dates shortly.
Read more at: Continue reading Tours: Ryan’s Hope (midwest U.S.) →

Pig Destroyer have entered the studio to begin work on their next full length. The album, in what is almost certainly not a Venture Bros. reference, has been titled Phantom Limb.

The album will feature fourteen new songs including “Cemetery Road”, “Rotten Yellow”, “Jupiter’s Eye” “Heathen Temple” and “The Machete Twins.”

Vocalist JR Hayes commented on the recording:

We’re recording to 2-inch analog tape, which is really exciting. The drums sound huge, and the guitar tones are really nasty and aggressive. Brian’s been on top of his game all year, busting out easily the fastest blast beats I’ve ever seen him play. As usual, Scott’s written a whole arsenal of scalding riffs, but I feel like he really outdid himself with the arrangements on this record. The songs feel great and we’ve been having a load of fun playing them for the last five months. It’s the 14 most deranged metal songs we could make up, so get ready to sink your f*cking teeth in.

The band’s previous album, Terrifyer, was ranked among the best albums of 2004 by Punknews.org
Read more at: Continue reading Pig Destroyer begin recording →

Ruiner is reporting that they are now free agents after separating from their now former label, 1917 Records.

The label released the compact disc version of the band’s 2005 EP, What Could Possibly Go Right…, and also planned on releasing the band’s first full-length, No Apologies. However, “personal reasons” were cited in response to a “mutual and amicable agreement to part ways.”

The band is now searching for a label to release the album, which is being mastered this week.

They’ll also traverse the U.S. east coast for several dates in March with Sinking Ships.
Read more at: Continue reading Ruiner and 1917 Records part ways →

This week, DJ Rossstar will be playing host a number of guests. William Tell and Seven Falls will be interviewed tonight. Tomorrow’s program will feature De Capulet and The Trademark .

The show runs from 7-8pm PST on Wednesdays and Thursdays.

The stream will be available from here and questions and comments for the band can be sent via this link.
Read more at: Continue reading William Tell, De Capulet, others on DJ Rossstar this week →