Members of Los Angeles punk quartet OFF! Keith Morris (ex-Black Flag, ex-Circle Jerks) and bassist Steven McDonald (Red Cross/Redd Kross) have contributed to the upcoming hardcover hardcore history WE GOT POWER!: Hardcore Punk Scenes From 1980s Southern California, by David Markey and Jordan Schwartz.
Morris contributes the short story “Electric Fried Wiener,” with the following exert being chosen to describe the story: “It was the same story at any venue allowing something that resembled punk rawk musical stylings…drinking, smoking, and carrying on outside the club like the carefree goofballs and goofballettes that we were…”
The book also featuring essays by members of the Adolescents, the Vandals, Black Flag, Suicidal Tendencies, White Flag, to name a few. In addition, the book features pictures of Morris and McDonald on camera circa 1982 at venues like the Whisky, the Brown Box, and Santa Monica. The book is currently projected for an August 2012 release.
Disaffected punk weirdos Drug Church announce plans to release their debut self-titled EP via No Sleep Records on July 10. The EP will be available digitally and on 7” vinyl which can be pre-ordered here. Fans can check out the first track, “Mohawk”, featuring guest vocals by Jeremy Bolm (Touche Amore), streaming now at Altpress.com.
Consisting of vocalist Patrick Kindlon (End of A Year, Self Defense Family), Chris Villeneuve (drums), Nick Cogan (guitar), Cory Galusha (guitar) and Pat Wynne (bass). It’s what happens when you strip any pretense from music and are left with a room full of dudes with weird bodies and tenuous futures as the band fully embraces its hardcore-dudes-trying-to-play-alt-rock influences. No heavy trips about how you should live. No white-guy slam poetry about love. Just music you can pushpit and stagedive to so you can forget for a moment that you have eczema and work at Pizza Hut.
Drug Church will be touring this summer in support of the self-titled EP. Hook up to Facebook and No Sleep Records for additional information and announcements. Track list can be found below.
New Found Glory guitarist Chad Gilbert has announced that he will be releasing a brand new 7” under the moniker What’s Eating Gilbert on June 19 via Paper + Plastick Records. The 7″ will include two songs, and hold the title The Nashville Session. The album will be released in digital and vinyl formats and was produced by Chad Gilbert & Jon Howard at The Anchor Room in Nashville, Tenn.
The Spacepimps have announced that they will be giving away a free two song EP as of June 14, 2012. The EP’s songs are set to appear on the band’s next full length, also scheduled to hit sometime later this year. The album will follow their debut full length, Stuck Here Forever.
Red City Radio has released the third installment of their tour diary over on the Paper + Plastick website. The band is currently on tour supporting their 2011 release The Dangers Of Standing Still.
Tour dates can be found here. The first diary entry can be found here.
Hardcore act Fights & Fires has announced that they will be releasing a brand new limited edition 12″ of their full length Proof That Ghosts Exist. The pressing will be limited to 30o copies.
In the upcoming issue of Rolling Stone magazine, Tom Gabel of Against Me! has come out as transgender and revealed plans to begin the process of becoming a woman. The article, which is previewed here, states that Gabel has been privately dealing with gender dysphoria for years and will soon begin the process via hormone and electrolysis treatments. He will remain married to his wife Heather, of which she has a two-year old daughter with, and he plans to take the name Laura Jane Grace.
According to Rolling Stone, this is the first time a major rock star has come out openly as transgender. Gabel reflected on the impact of the announcement saying:
“I’m going to have embarrassing moments, and that won’t be fun. But that’s part of what talking to you is about – is hoping people will understand, and hoping they’ll be fairly kind.”
The full story on Gabel’s transformation will be in the June issue of Rolling Stone available Friday, May 11th.
Rise Records will be re-releasing two of Poison The Well‘s long out-of print albums, The Opposite of December and Tear From The Re, in a combine package that features all nineteen songs re-mastered. The release will be available in multiple formats including a limited edition double 12”gatefold vinyl, deluxe CD and low-priced digital album.
During their career, Poison The Well sold over 300,000 albums in the U.S. and over the years have appeared on both the Vans Warped Tour and Take Action Tour, in addition to touring with the likes of Deftones, Thrice, Glassjaw, Cursive, Thursday, Hatebreed, The InternationalNoise Conspiracy, Dance Gavin Dance, Killswitch Engage and more. The influential band broke up in 2010.
You can listen to “Nerdy” from The Opposite of December below.
In a recent interview with Bombshell Zine, long running political punk act Strike Anywhere has announced that they are planning to release a new acoustic live album titled In Defiance Of Empty Time sometime in July.
The band last released Iron Front in 2009 via Bridge Nine Records.
Seinfeld inspired namesake Lowtalker has announced that they will be releasing a brand new EP via No Sleep Records later this year. The album also marks the band’s No Sleep Records debut, so which the band comments:
“We are proud and excited to announce that we’ve signed with No Sleep Records!… We’re big fans of what the label is about and what they’ve done, and we think it’s the perfect home for our band. Chris and company understand and love music and have devoted themselves to supporting it from the ground up. Right now we’re in the studio in Minneapolis putting together our new EP which will come out on No Sleep this summer. We’re working with our friends Brian Moen and Zach Hansen in a couple different rooms in town, along with some help from Adam Krinsky. We can’t wait to share these songs with everyone and get back on the road soon. We’re going to try and share some studio notes and footage so keep up with us at lowtalkermusic.tumblr.com. Thanks for your support!”
The EP will follow their previous EP, People Worry About Everything.
Celtic punk act Flatfoot 56 has released details for their next full length. The album will be titled Toil, and is currently set for a July 24, 2012 release via Paper + Plastick Records (US), Stomp Records (Canada), and People Like You Records (Europe). The album will serve as their four full length and follow up to 2010′s Black Thorn. Johnny Rioux of the Street Dogs in served as producer. Frontman Tobin Bawinkel comments:
“[Johnny] knows how to challenge us and push us to the next level, which is what any band hopes for… We still love whipping the crowd into a frenzy and making everybody dance… but we wrote some tunes that people can relate to, and that they can sing along to.”
Funeral For A Friend has posted a video update of their progress in the studio. The band is currently hammering out their follow up to 2011′s Welcome Home Armagedon.
Philadelphia’s The Menzingers were robbed on May 2nd while on tour in the UK in Manchester. They band explained:
We walk around the block To the van and I hear Dave give a quiet “oh fuck”. The driver side window was smashed out and 3 personal bags were stolen. Unfortunately my bag was stolen with all of our tour money inside it. To top it off, we brought around $2000 in US cash with us in case of an emergency. So let’s see €5000 Euros, an iPad, 3 iPods, 3 passports, 2 pairs of raybans (I know, I know they’re super expensive but they make you look pretty cool), my personal tour journals from the last year and a half which included all of my “On the Impossible Past” lyrics and all of my god damn memories, a digital camera, prescriptions, blah blah blah.This sucks. It really fucking sucks because it’s not your fault and so many, in fact an absurd amount of you want to help out. It’s pretty surreal and heartwarming to know we’re not alone in this situation. Thanks, thanks, thanks. Cant tell you how much it means.
The band explained how you can donate and give more details about the evening on their Tumblr.
It with great sadness that we report that Adam Yanch, better known as MCA, of The Beastie Boys has passed away at the age of 47 after a three year bout with Cancer. He was initially diagnosed with cancer of the parotid (salivary) gland in 2009.
At the age of 17, Yaunch formed The Beastie Boys with Michael “Mike D” Diamond and Adam “Adrock” Horovitz. Intiallly starting as hardcore band and soon began experimenting with hip hop as well, the band would go on to sell over 40 million records, release four #1 albums–including the first hip hop album ever to top the Billboard 200, the band’s 1986 debut full length, Licensed To Ill–win three Grammys, and the MTV Video Vanguard Lifetime Achievement award. Last month Beastie Boys were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, with Diamond and Horovitz reading an acceptance speech on behalf of Yauch, who was unable to attend.
On top of The Beastie Boys, Yauch was a founder of the Milarepa Fund, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting awareness and activism regarding the injustices perpetrated on native Tibetans by Chinese occupational government and military forces. In 1996, Milarepa produced the first Tibetan Freedom Concert in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, which was attended by 100,000 people, making it the biggest benefit concert on U.S. soil since 1985′s Live Aid.
Yaunch was also known for directing numerous music videos, under both his own name and the alias Nathanial Hörnblowér. In 2002, he launched the film production company Oscilloscope Laboratories which has become a major force in independent video distribution, amassing a catalogue of such acclaimed titles as Kelly Reichardt’s Wendy and Lucy, Oren Moverman’s The Messenger, Banksy’s Exit Through The Gift Shop, Lance Bangs and Spike Jonze’s Tell Them Anything You Want: A Portrait Of Maurice Sendak, and many more.
Our condolences and thoughts go out to MCA’s family and friends.
Hopeless Records and Sub City announce the vinyl reissue of Thrice’s album The Illusion Of Safety which was originally released in 2002. This past February marked the records 10 year anniversary of its release. Fans will be able to choose between a standard and deluxe one-time re-pressing. The limited quantity deluxe pressing allows fans to choose between 3 colors; coke bottle clear, white or translucent red pressed on 180 gram vinyl. This deluxe version will also include a download card of the album. The first 500 sold will contain inserts signed by the band! A standard version will also be available in stores and online on June 19th.
A portion of the proceeds earned by the artists and Hopeless/ Sub City Records from the sale of this release will be donated to the non-profit organization A Place Called Home.
Head over to Hopeless Records to check out bundles and to pre order!
Paper + Plastick Records has announced that they will be releasing Foreign Tongues’ brand new self-titled EP on cassette tape. The five-song EP will be limited to 200 units, and is set to be released on May 21, 2012 and can be streamed on Bandcamp.
Members of Los Angeles punk quartet OFF! Keith Morris (ex-Black Flag, ex-Circle Jerks) and bassist Steven McDonald (Red Cross/Redd Kross) have contributed to the upcoming hardcover hardcore history WE GOT POWER!: Hardcore Punk Scenes From 1980s Southern California, by David Markey and Jordan Schwartz.
The Spacepimps have announced that they will be giving away a free two song EP as of June 14, 2012. The EP’s songs are set to appear on the band’s next full length, also scheduled to hit sometime later this year. The album will follow their debut full length, Stuck Here Forever.
Reactions has detailed the track listing for their upcoming third EP, the six-song Archetypes, set to be released June 19, 2012.
Red City Radio has released the third installment of their tour diary over on the Paper + Plastick website. The band is currently on tour supporting their 2011 release The Dangers Of Standing Still.
Rise Records will be re-releasing two of Poison The Well‘s long out-of print albums, The Opposite of December and Tear From The Re, in a combine package that features all nineteen songs re-mastered. The release will be available in multiple formats including a limited edition double 12”gatefold vinyl, deluxe CD and low-priced digital album. 
In a recent interview with 
Seinfeld inspired namesake Lowtalker has announced that they will be releasing a brand new EP via No Sleep Records later this year. The album also marks the band’s No Sleep Records debut, so which the band comments:
Celtic punk act Flatfoot 56 has released details for their next full length. The album will be titled Toil, and is currently set for a July 24, 2012 release via Paper + Plastick Records (US), Stomp Records (Canada), and People Like You Records (Europe). The album will serve as their four full length and follow up to 2010′s Black Thorn. Johnny Rioux of the Street Dogs in served as producer. Frontman Tobin Bawinkel comments:
Funeral For A Friend has posted a video update of their progress in the studio. The band is currently hammering out their follow up to 2011′s Welcome Home Armagedon.
Philadelphia’s The Menzingers were robbed on May 2nd while on tour in the UK in Manchester. They band explained:
It with great sadness that we report that Adam Yanch, better known as MCA, of The Beastie Boys has passed away at the age of 47 after a three year bout with Cancer. He was initially diagnosed with cancer of the parotid (salivary) gland in 2009.
