August 6th, 2006

It's Sunday August 6th, 2006. So much seems to have happened this week that I don't need to open with any witty opening. That's too bad for you guys, because the insightful hilarity I could have unleashed… Hot damn. You have no idea. I have profound influence on American comedy after all.

The people must have something good to read on a Sunday

Soap opera time. Of course you all heard that last week prominent Christian metalcore act Underoath dropped off a fairly plum spot on the ongoing Warped Tour. It's been no secret that the band has been the brunt of many a joke from NOFX, so the rumour mill kicked into overdrive with claims that Mike drove the band from the summer trek. Of course we hate rumours here at the `Org, so we went to the source and had Fat Mike put those to bed. You could find video clips featuring both those bands, along with other Warped acts like the legendary Buzzcocks online this week as well. On the political front we learned that the non-profit suicide hotline 1-800-SUICIDE was in danger of losing its funding from the U.S. government. Both Mike Park's Plea For Peace and Louis Posen's Take Action have risen money for the cause. Rounding out the batch of weekly controversies, ads for the new record from metal overlords Slayer have been banned in Fullerton.

We won't say anything about the lucky chump who received a $25,000 fellowship to research punk rock in Europe, other than that our university achievements now seem far less cool. We said goodbye this week to both veteran political hardcore act Boy Sets Fire and Canadian buzz duo Death From Above 1979. On the popular music front My Chemical Romance is planning an October release and video award nominations were earned by bands like AFI, Green Day, and Panic! At the Disco. Finally on the touring front we've seen Comeback Kid and Clit 45 added to the Bad Religion / Dropkick Murphys tour and details announced for the tour featuring Less Than Jake, Loved Ones, Catch 22, New Mexican Disaster Squad and Set Your Goals.

This week we continued our series of chats with the legends of the punk scene, speaking with Exene Cervenka and John Doe of X (interview). We also published a chat with Jason Navarro of the sadly defunct Suicide Machines (interview)

Click Read More to see this week's streaming music, contests and other highlights.

July 30th, 2006

It's Sunday July 30th, 2006. Ladies and gentlemen we have a new editor here at Punknews.org, re-introduce you to Chris. You folks know him better as Sickboi, a long time contributor, reviewer and the videographer behind our Video Of The Week features. Chris went above and beyond as a contributing member of this community, so we're thrilled to officially welcome him to the team. Expect unfair coverage of bands from RVA from this point on.

The people must have something good to read on a Sunday

What a week this was! The online punk world was shocked to learn that music from white power band Skrewdriver was being sold on iTunes, so Punknews.org went to the source and spoke to the president of retailer CD Baby about the controversy. There was more internet controversy in the U.S. as a bill was passed to restrict access to "social websites," this one included. In the most bizzare news of the week an early member of influential punk act Lifetime was charged with possessing human remains. The border is always an issue for North American touring acts, and the dangers were shown this week as Canadian band the Grey were banned from the US for 5 years. On the touring front Underoath dropped off Warped Tour while Bad Religion unveiled dates for their US trek. We had news on upcoming albums including a four CD epic from Thrice and the debut from post-Blink-182 act Plus 44. A few popular acts unveiled new projects, as My Chemical Romance's Gerald Way announced a comic book series and Fall Out Boy revealed plans for charity-benefiting toys. Looking for new music? How about Strike Anywhere's "Prisoner Echoes" and the Falcon's "Lay-Z-Boy 500."

This week we talked to a number of bands, including Modern Life Is War (interview), Black Flag's Henry Rollins (interview) and the Living End (interviewed by Terry from Ryan's Hope).

Click Read More to see this week's streaming music, contests and other highlights.

July 23rd, 2006

It's Sunday July 23rd, 2006. What they really need to do is make some games featuring legendary early punk rock bands, only to keep things authentic they do it with vintage technology from when those bands were active. Can you imagine the awesome Black Flag Pac-Man style experience in which you play an anthropomorphic circle that represents Henry Rollins and you chase around little dots that represent… well, dots I guess… and… hmm… perhaps I should have thought this through a little further.

The people must have something good to read on a Sunday

This was an amusing week, and while there weren't many major band announcements there were a number of weird little punk-related diversions that kept people talking. Take the announcement of Nickelodeon's Punk Rock Angel Girl animated short, helmed by none other than Jewel, or the apparent fued brewing between Toronto acts Fucked Up and Billy Talent. Heck, we even had a chance to see Fat Mike of NOFX and Spencer Chamberlain of Underoath settle their differences in an old fashioned battle to the death. A pair of reissues had your attention this week, as Sublime's self-titled album and the Sex Pistols bootleg Spunk are set to hit stands again. Ex-Midtown act Cobra Starship signed to Decaydance. Speaking of which, that label's owner Pete Wentz talked about the next release from his band Fall Out Boy. On the touring front, we reported details on Against Me!'s European festival apperances, Rise Against's trek with Thursday and pending shows from Pennywise, Circle Jerks, Ignite and ex-Sum 41 act the Brown Brigade.

This week a guest contributor from Italian blog Dirty Waves shared a great interview with guitarist/vocalist Drew Speziale of Circle Takes The Square (interview). Check it out.

Click Read More to see this week's streaming music, contests and other highlights.

July 16th, 2006

It's Sunday July 16th, 2006. It is far, far too hot to even attempt some sort of witty opening to this week's recap. I'm quite sure that as the internal temperature of my skull rises I become progressively less clever, so I'm not even trying. In fact, I'm going to go lie on the concrete on my balcony with the cat, it seems to know what to do in this sort of situation.

The people must have something good to read on a Sunday

It's a little surreal to find that the biggest story on a punk news site was about a member of Pink Floyd, but like the rest of the music world we bid farewell this week to Syd Barrett. Rivers Cuomo cast further doubts on the future of influential 90s alternative rock act Weezer this week, as the band is continuing their hiatus with no end in sight. Strike Anywhere is headed out on tour this September, whipping fans into a frenzy with the news that they'll be joined by A Global Threat, Ignite and Modern Life Is War on the trip. Thrice has started writing their next record, calling the effort "the most ambitious thing we've undertaken artistically." Punknews favorites Paint It Black lost a drummer with the departure of Dave Wagenschutz. The G7 announced a new album from early Vancouver punk act the Subhumans as well as slew of digital reissues of some rare material. Other stories that had your attention was the upcoming Snakes on a Plane soundtrack, the trailer for the American Hardcore film, Social Distortion's fall tour dates, and the new single from popular Las Vegas act the Killers.

This week we spoke the some of Nitro Records' young guns. Check out interviews with Franky Tsoukalas of Much The Same (interview) as well as the folks from No Trigger (interview).

Radio Free Punknews

Check the Punknews Music page for to check out new music from Dead To Me, Park, Rollo Tomasi, Tragedy, Rise Against and Drag The River among others.

Suntans are for Winners Win a trip to Cleveland for the Warped Tour
With the Warped Tour kicking off this week, it seemed appropriate to debut another big contest for the tour; this one is a biggie; a trip for two to Warped Tour 2006 August 11th at Tower City Amphitheatre in Cleveland, OH - plus accommodations and transportation to and from the show; a pair of tickets for the Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame tour, a signed guitar, a video iPod, an annual subscription to Audio Lunchbox and a subscription to Alternative Press magazine.
Cuddle up with Good Riddance & Gama-Go
Nothing says comfort like the impassioned political hardcore of Good Riddance, and to celebrate their new Fat Wreck Chords full length My Republic we're giving away a Good Riddance / Gama-Go prize pack. Along with the band's new full length you can win a pair of PJs and slippers from the hip San Francisco clothier.
Win an XBOX360 and more from Rise Against
Our friends in Rise Against released The Sufferer & The Witness on July 4th via Geffen Records. To commemorate it's release, Rise Against and PunkNews.org have teamed up to bring you a contest where you can win an X-Box 360, autographed copy of The Sufferer & The Witness, and assorted rise Against goodies.
Rx Bandits Contest
In case you hadn't heard, the Rx Bandits' newest album, …And The Battle Begun, is set to be released in just a few months. To celebrate, the band has graciously offered up free tickets to a couple of their upcoming shows to four pairs of Punknews.org readers.
The North Atlantic Contest
San Diego, CA's North Atlantic recently saw the wide release of their full length, Wires in the Walls through WPO Records. To celebrate that release, the band would like to give a lucky Punknews.org reader a special copy of the album with handmade artwork, an autographed poster and package of pins.

Life at Disconnect

We've theorized that you visit other websites out there, and we know it can be tough to leave the calming blue glow of the `Org, so we'll help by infecting the rest of the web with Punknews content. Waste some time on the Punknews.org and Punknews Records MySpace pages or contribute your listening habits to the weekly charts Last.fm group.

The Call Up

Why register on Punknews.org? Registered users can rate bands and reviews, building recommendations and links between artists for the whole community to share and discover. Users get their own profile page showing recent comments, top rated bands and favourite records and more. So go ahead, cast off the cloak of anonymity and create your account today - it's free, easy and private.

July 9th, 2006

It's Sunday July 9th, 2006. If Punknews is ever forced out of our palatial headquarters I'm not sure where we'd move. It's one thing to pick up your bar, stage, and urinals and hop to the other coast, but have you ever tried moving a 25 foot tall, diamond encrusted marble statue of a certain punk website owner who shall remain nameless? That's heavy to move across a room let alone a country.

The people must have something good to read on a Sunday

This week it was confirmed that legendary New York club CBGB was indeed moving to Las Vegas, but despite the owner's plans to preserve everything down to the original urinals, this still feels like the sad end of an era. We're losing not merely a venue, but one of the few things you could ever call a punk landmark. Ted Leo's never short of an opinion, and the Pharmacists frontman took issue with none other than Elton John this week. This Rancid tour continues to gain more and more attention, as its been announced that their setlists will include Operation Ivy and Bastards covers. The trailer was posted for the independent film "Freaks, Nerds and Romantics," featuring the Bouncing Souls (of course) as well as Alkaline Trio and the Explosion. The final recording in the late Johnny Cash's American album series was released this week, and you could stream his last work online. St. Catharines, Ontario's Alexisonfire never seem to rest, now announcing that they've signed to Vagrant Records. Other stories that cought your attention were Anti-Flag's video plans for "This Is The End (For You My Friend)" and the Matches' star-studded production team of Brett Gurewitz, Tim Armstrong and Mark Hoppus among others.

This week we spoke with a ton of bands including the Dead To Me, AFI (Hunter Burgan for this round), Blackout Pact, Hit The Switch, Outernational. Check those interviews out.

Radio Free Punknews

Check the Punknews Music page for to check out new music from Good Riddance, Rollo Tomasi, the Methadones, Tragedy, Rise Against and Drag The River among others.

Suntans are for Winners Win a trip to Cleveland for the Warped Tour
With the Warped Tour kicking off this week, it seemed appropriate to debut another big contest for the tour; this one is a biggie; a trip for two to Warped Tour 2006 August 11th at Tower City Amphitheatre in Cleveland, OH - plus accommodations and transportation to and from the show; a pair of tickets for the Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame tour, a signed guitar, a video iPod, an annual subscription to Audio Lunchbox and a subscription to Alternative Press magazine.
Cuddle up with Good Riddance & Gama-Go
Nothing says comfort like the impassioned political hardcore of Good Riddance, and to celebrate their new Fat Wreck Chords full length My Republic we're giving away a Good Riddance / Gama-Go prize pack. Along with the band's new full length you can win a pair of PJs and slippers from the hip San Francisco clothier.
Win an XBOX360 and more from Rise Against
Our friends in Rise Against are set to release The Sufferer & The Witness July 4th on Geffen Records. To commemorate it's release, Rise Against and PunkNews.org have teamed up to bring you a contest where you can win an X-Box 360, autographed copy of The Sufferer & The Witness, and assorted rise Against goodies.
Win Warped Tour passes from Scotch Greens Scotch Greens has been confirmed for the first month of the Warped Tour. The band will be touring on the heels of their debut release Professional, and to celebrate are giving away to passes to the summer tour.

Life at Disconnect

We've theorized that you visit other websites out there, and we know it can be tough to leave the calming blue glow of the `Org, so we'll help by infecting the rest of the web with Punknews content. Waste some time on the Punknews.org and Punknews Records MySpace pages or contribute your listening habits to the weekly charts Last.fm group.

The Call Up

Why register on Punknews.org? Registered users can rate bands and reviews, building recommendations and links between artists for the whole community to share and discover. Users get their own profile page showing recent comments, top rated bands and favourite records and more. So go ahead, cast off the cloak of anonymity and create your account today - it's free, easy and private.

July 2nd, 2006

It's Sunday July 2nd, 2006. This is the first week that I almost forgot to write this article. What can I say, it's a long weekend up here in Canuckistan and there's still one period left in the game. After what seems like 60 or 70 BBQs and countless beers I don't see why I should stop now.

Oh, and Jesse Luscious this picture's for you.

The people must have something good to read on a Sunday

You know there's something about the term "indefinite hiatus" that just kills me. Maybe the finality of a proper break-up is just easier to swallow. However you want to define it, the sad announcement came from Sleater-Kinney this week. Rancid's North American tour keeps getting bigger and better, and after all the drama and side-projects it's great to see the guys back doing what they do best. A number of popular acts including AFI, Panic! At the Disco, and the All-American Rejects were ridiculed by hackers who vandalized popular online retailer Amazon.com earlier this week. Yellowcard took an introspective turn, publicly pondering if they "went a bit too far" with their latest record. Warped Tour is in full swing and joined the podcast revolution with tour head Kevin Lyman chatting with NOFX. The tour stayed in the news as From First to Last dropped off. AFI's tearing up the pavement in support of Decemberunderground, announcing upcoming dates in Germany and the UK. Lifetime continues their high profile resurrection with the announcement of a 2-track single in the fall. Finally this week saw two new songs posted from the upcoming posthumous Johnny Cash record.

Radio Free Punknews

Check the Punknews Music page for to check out new music from Good Riddance, Rollo Tomasi, the Methadones, Tragedy, Rise Against and Drag The River among others.

Suntans are for Winners Win a trip to Cleveland for the Warped Tour
With the Warped Tour kicking off this week, it seemed appropriate to debut another big contest for the tour; this one is a biggie; a trip for two to Warped Tour 2006 August 11th at Tower City Amphitheatre in Cleveland, OH - plus accommodations and transportation to and from the show; a pair of tickets for the Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame tour, a signed guitar, a video iPod, an annual subscription to Audio Lunchbox and a subscription to Alternative Press magazine.
Epitaph summer music
Summer's here and Epitaph Records wants to provide your soundtrack. Enjoy the heat to the sunny tunes of Raised Fist's Sound of the Republic, the Bouncing Souls' The Gold Record and the 5th edition of the Give em the Boot series. We'll even top it off with some new threads.
Cuddle up with Good Riddance & Gama-Go
Nothing says comfort like the the impassioned political hardcore of Good Riddance, and to celebrate their new Fat Wreck Chords full length My Republic we're giving away a Good Riddance / Gama-Go prize pack. Along with the band's new full length you can win a pair of PJs and slippers from the hip San Francisco clothier.
Panic Reflections Records is pretty stoked on getting the opportunity to release the first post-reunion disc from Boston, MA hardcore dudes Panic, and they want to celebrate by giving 1 lucky reader a whole mess of swag.
Win an XBOX360 and more from Rise Against
Our friends in Rise Against are set to release The Sufferer & The Witness July 4th on Geffen Records. To commemorate it's release, Rise Against and PunkNews.org have teamed up to bring you a contest where you can win an X-Box 360, autographed copy of The Sufferer & The Witness, and assorted rise Against goodies.
Win Warped Tour passes from Scotch Greens Scotch Greens has been confirmed for the first month of the Warped Tour. The band will be touring on the heels of their debut release Professional, and to celebrate are giving away to passes to the summer tour.

Life at Disconnect

We've theorized that you visit other websites out there, and we know it can be tough to leave the calming blue glow of the `Org, so we'll help by infecting the rest of the web with Punknews content. Waste some time on the Punknews.org and Punknews Records MySpace pages or contribute your listening habits to the weekly charts Last.fm group.

The Call Up

Why register on Punknews.org? Registered users can rate bands and reviews, building recommendations and links between artists for the whole community to share and discover. Users get their own profile page showing recent comments, top rated bands and favourite records and more. So go ahead, cast off the cloak of anonymity and create your account today - it's free, easy and private.

June 25th, 2006

It's Sunday June 25th, 2006. Ladies and gentlemen may I formally introduce you to Meg, a longtime Punknews contributor who now joins Aubin, Brian, Justin and myself as a news editor. Meg's been writing up a storm under the name Sally_Field and contributing a number of great hardcore reviews to the archives, however we felt the added responsibilities of news editor would help keep her from penning further fluff pieces on the Starting Line. Seriously though, Meg's done a fantastic job here in her first week and we're thrilled to have her on board.

The people must have something good to read on a Sunday

Two new music videos had your attention this week, as Anti-Flag released "One Trillion Dollars" while the Bouncing Souls rocked "The Pizza Song." Of course we're always up for some Clash news, and it looks like the 1980's Rude Boy will finally be hitting DVD racks in North America. In one fantasticly packed story we brought you both dates for the Lawrence Arms / Draft / Blackout Pact tour and details on the Draft's upcoming In a Million Pieces. AFI, Rise Against, Saves The Day and many other familiar faces have surfaced on the soundtrack to the Madden '07 video game. Finally we round off this week with two similar stories about two very different bands, as details on the upcoming albums from The Mars Volta and the Casualties were announced.

This week we spoke with Rody Walker of Ontario's political punk/metal act Protest The Hero. Check it out and hit up the Interviews archive for recent chats with AFI, Lagwagon, Ryan's Hope, the Ducky Boys, Slayer and many others.

Radio Free Punknews

We're very happy to bring you a new full album stream of the latest record from punk/hardcore heroes Good Riddance. Check out their latest My Republic, due in stores this Tuesday via Fat Wreck. Check the Punknews Music page for featured music from Rollo Tomasi, the Methadones, Tragedy, Rise Against and Drag The River.

Suntans are for Winners Win a trip to Cleveland for the Warped Tour
With the Warped Tour kicking off this week, it seemed appropriate to debut another big contest for the tour; this one is a biggie; a trip for two to Warped Tour 2006 August 11th at Tower City Amphitheatre in Cleveland, OH - plus accommodations and transportation to and from the show; a pair of tickets for the Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame tour, a signed guitar, a video iPod, an annual subscription to Audio Lunchbox and a subscription to Alternative Press magazine.
Epitaph summer music
Summer's here and Epitaph Records wants to provide your soundtrack. Enjoy the heat to the sunny tunes of Raised Fist's Sound of the Republic, the Bouncing Souls' The Gold Record and the 5th edition of the Give em the Boot series. We'll even top it off with some new threads.
Panic Reflections Records is pretty stoked on getting the opportunity to release the first post-reunion disc from Boston, MA hardcore dudes Panic, and they want to celebrate by giving 1 lucky reader a whole mess of swag.
Win an XBOX360 and more from Rise Against
Our friends in Rise Against are set to release The Sufferer & The Witness July 4th on Geffen Records. To commemorate it's release, Rise Against and PunkNews.org have teamed up to bring you a contest where you can win an X-Box 360, autographed copy of The Sufferer & The Witness, and assorted rise Against goodies.
Augustana (Sony PSP)
In celebration of Augustana's new single "Boston" off their debut album All the Stars and Boulevards, Augustana and Punknews.org are giving away a brand new Sony PSP to one lucky winner.
Win Warped Tour passes from Scotch Greens Scotch Greens has been confirmed for the first month of the Warped Tour. The band will be touring on the heels of their debut release Professional, and to celebrate are giving away to passes to the summer tour.
Warped Tour Compilations
To celebrate the recent release of their 9th annual Warped Tour compilation, SideOneDummy has opted to give one lucky winner a full set of the entire compilation series.
Sonic Youth - Rather Ripped Sonic Youth have released what is being called their "most accomplished and mature album […] in years" and since a record from the band that brought us the classic Goo is a pretty big deal, we figured we should give away some stuff with them.
Thursday - 2GB iPod Nano, 25 CDs
To celebrate their recent full length, A City by the Light Divided, Island Records act Thursday would like you to participate in a special weekly contest with a draw every Thursday.
Win a 60GB iPod, more from Taking Back Sunday / Angels and Airwaves Taking Back Sunday and Angels and Airwaves are heading out on tour this summer in support of their respective new albums. To celebrate the bands are giving away a 60 GB iPod, $200 in iTunes Gift Certificates and much more.

Life at Disconnect

We've theorized that you visit other websites out there, and we know it can be tough to leave the calming blue glow of the `Org, so we'll help by infecting the rest of the web with Punknews content. Waste some time on the Punknews.org and Punknews Records MySpace pages or contribute your listening habits to the weekly charts Last.fm group.

The Call Up

Why register on Punknews.org? Registered users can rate bands and reviews, building recommendations and links between artists for the whole community to share and discover. Users get their own profile page showing recent comments, top rated bands and favourite records and more. So go ahead, cast off the cloak of anonymity and create your account today - it's free, easy and private.

June 18th, 2006

It's Sunday June 18th, 2006. It appears that the once thought extinct Laotian rock rat was discovered alive this week. This offers concrete proof that Ed "Big Daddy" Roth was both artist and geneticist, and I'm glad to see he was successful in bringing one of his creations to life before his passing. I'm sure this ugly customer has a monstrous little hot rod somewhere, but probably hid it when the photographers showed up.

Stories you were talking about this week

This week Alkaline Trio's Matt Skiba and F-Minus' Joe Steinbrick announced that their new project Heavens signed to Epitaph Records. Rancid continues to garner attention with their return to action, announcing two night stays in New York City, Detroit, Boston, Philadelphia and St. Louis. Poison The Well have parted ways with major label Atlantic Records and are joining a yet unidentified large indie. Details are few but it was confirmed that Whole Wheat Bread's Nick Largen was arrested, the band's continuing to play their scheduled dates however. Green Day continue to school the youth, this week teaching munitions awareness in the UK. This week offered more details on the upcoming Against Me! live album, saw the premier of Rise Against's new video, broke news on the debut LP from the Lawrence Arms' Chris McCaughan, and gave you a listen to a song from Strike Anywhere's Dead FM.

We recently spoke to Jade Puget about the new AFI record. We posted the first half of the interview this week, so check it out before part two hits. A contributor from South African also spoke with Lagwagon this week.

Current contests Win a trip to Cleveland for the Warped Tour
With the Warped Tour kicking off this week, it seemed appropriate to debut another big contest for the tour; this one is a biggie; a trip for two to Warped Tour 2006 August 11th at Tower City Amphitheatre in Cleveland, OH - plus accommodations and transportation to and from the show; a pair of tickets for the Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame tour, a signed guitar, a video iPod, an annual subscription to Audio Lunchbox and a subscription to Alternative Press magazine.

Win Warped Tour passes from Scotch Greens Scotch Greens has been confirmed for the first month of the Warped Tour. The band will be touring on the heels of their debut release Professional, and to celebrate are giving away to passes to the summer tour.

Warped Tour Compilations
To celebrate the recent release of their 9th annual Warped Tour compilation, SideOneDummy has opted to give one lucky winner a full set of the entire compilation series.

Sonic Youth - Rather Ripped Sonic Youth have released what is being called their "most accomplished and mature album […] in years" and since a record from the band that brought us the classic Goo is a pretty big deal, we figured we should give away some stuff with them.

Thursday - 2GB iPod Nano, 25 CDs
To celebrate their recent full length, A City by the Light Divided, Island Records act Thursday would like you to participate in a special weekly contest with a draw every Thursday.

Win a 60GB iPod, more from Taking Back Sunday / Angels and Airwaves Taking Back Sunday and Angels and Airwaves are heading out on tour this summer in support of their respective new albums. To celebrate the bands are giving away a 60 GB iPod, $200 in iTunes Gift Certificates and much more.

Diversions

We've theorized that you visit other websites out there, and we know it can be tough to leave the calming blue glow of the `Org, so we'll help by infecting the rest of the Internets with Punknews content. Waste some time on the Punknews.org and Punknews Records MySpace pages or add your listening stats to our Last.fm group.

Come Join Us

Why register on Punknews.org? Registered users can now rate bands and reviews, building recommendations and links between artists for the whole community to share and discover. Of course as a registered user the "Nickname / Password" box will become a handy search tool and you can save your preferred settings for the comment sections. So go ahead, cast off the cloak of anonymity and create your account today - it's free, easy and private.

June 11th, 2006

It's Sunday June 11th, 2006. You know I'm tired of this. This week we hit another of those numerically significant dates, 6/6/6 in case you've forgotten, and despite all the crazies claiming that the world was going to end nothing happened. All this hype and all we have to show for it is an AFI record. Bah. Well I'm taking charge for the next significant date: July 3rd 2007 we're all wearing plaid suits.

Yeah, you didn't get that because you're not a ska nerd.

Stories you were talking about this week

For a band of their exposure we haven't heard much about the Ataris lately, and their departure from Columbia Records is likely the reason. Lawrence Arms / Alkaline Trio side project the Falcon have announced a September release for their upcoming full length Unicornography. Folk icon Billy Bragg pulled his music from social networking powerhouse MySpace. Fat Wreck has posted a new online sampler with new Strike Anywhere, Against Me!, Me First, Only Crime songs. Other big stories this week included an encore to that "Top 50 Conservative Songs" controversy, a new Avenged Sevenfold single, the return of Hellfest (in France), new music from the Rx Bandits and Epitaph's new signing Parkway Drive.

This week we spoke to several bands, including Gatsbys American Dream, the Ducky Boys, Casket Salesmen, Ryan's Hope and the almighty Slayer.

Current contests Win a 60GB iPod, more from Taking Back Sunday / Angels and Airwaves Taking Back Sunday and Angels and Airwaves are heading out on tour this summer in support of their respective new albums. To celebrate the bands are giving away a 60 GB iPod, $200 in iTunes Gift Certificates and much more.

Win Warped Tour passes from Scotch Greens Scotch Greens has been confirmed for the first month of the Warped Tour. The band will be touring on the heels of their debut release Professional, and to celebrate are giving away to passes to the summer tour.

Warped Tour Compilations
To celebrate the recent release of their 9th annual Warped Tour compilation, SideOneDummy has opted to give one lucky winner a full set of the entire compilation series.

Augustana (Sony PSP)
In celebration of Augustana's new single "Boston" off their debut album All the Stars and Boulevards, Augustana and Punknews.org are giving away a brand new Sony PSP to one lucky winner.

MONO Vinyl
Japan's MONO recently released their full length You Are There on Temporary Residence. We're giving a few lucky winners some rare vinyl versions of their album.

Thursday - 2GB iPod Nano, 25 CDs
To celebrate the uhm, one month anniversary of their recent full length, A City by the Light Divided, Island Records act Thursday would like you to participate in a special weekly contest with a draw every Thursday.

The Hope Conspiracy: Hang Your Cross
To celebrate the long-awaited return of the Hope Conspiracy, Punknews.org and Deathwish would like to give one lucky winner all four colour variations of the upcoming 7-inch from the band. The vinyl is extremely limited with only 500 copies of each color pressed.

Diversions

We've theorized that you visit other websites out there, and we know it can be tough, so we'll help by infecting the rest of the Internets with Punknews content. Waste some time on the Punknews.org / Punknews Records MySpace pages or add your listening stats to our Last.fm group.

Come Join Us

Why register on Punknews.org? Registered users can now rate bands and reviews, building recommendations and links between artists for the whole community to share and discover. Of course as a registered user the "Nickname / Password" box will become a handy search tool and you can save your preferred settings for the comment sections. So go ahead, cast off the cloak of anonymity and create your account today - it's free, easy and private.

June 4th, 2006

It's Sunday June 4th, 2006. So there is finally word of a new Dillinger Four record, which means you can all stop the asking when its coming. We were looking for a good "hell freezes over" picture to run with this week's article, but all the internet had to offer was a damn Eagles album cover and that horribly overused picture of a frozen Hell road sign. There's no way I'm perpetuating that meme, so here's some nudity. Enjoy.

Stories you were talking about this week

Two major records were online streaming this week, and everyone had a chance to finally check out AFI's Decemberunderground and the Bouncing Souls' The Gold Record. The bill to study the effects of depleted uranium munitions has successfully passed the house in the U.S. Congress, that bill being backed by congressman Jim McDermott, who worked with bands like Anti-Flag to get the word out. It's been a long time, but there's finally word that Dillinger Four will release a new album. Expect The Civil War on Halloween. Which side are you on? Other big stories in this week included some talk on Green Day's plans, an upcoming single from Slayer, a new album from Goldfinger, and some questionable choices on NME's "Best Albums of All Time" list. Finally, we've had more confirmation on that upcoming Lifetime / Bronx tour, seems that The Loved Ones are along for the ride as well.

This week we spoke to several bands, including Farewell to Arms, Brandtson and Aloha. Check those interviews out.

Current contests Win a 60GB iPod, more from Taking Back Sunday / Angels and Airwaves Taking Back Sunday and Angels and Airwaves are heading out on tour this summer in support of their respective new albums. To celebrate the bands are giving away a 60 GB iPod, $200 in iTunes Gift Certificates and much more.

MONO Vinyl
Japan's MONO recently released their full length You Are There on Temporary Residence. We're giving a few lucky winners some rare vinyl versions of their album.

The Hope Conspiracy: Hang Your Cross
To celebrate the long-awaited return of the Hope Conspiracy, Punknews.org and Deathwish would like to give one lucky winner all four colour variations of the upcoming 7-inch from the band. The vinyl is extremely limited with only 500 copies of each color pressed.

Streams

We added a new stream this week for the Methadones upcoming covers album 21st Century Power Pop Riot! We're also streaming new music including VCR's Power Destiny and another for Tragedy's Nerve Damage.

Diversions

We've theorized that you visit other websites out there, and we know it can be tough, so we'll help by infecting the rest of the Internets with Punknews content. Waste some time on the Punknews.org / Punknews Records MySpace pages or add your listening stats to our Last.fm group.

Come Join Us

Why register on Punknews.org? Registered users can now rate bands and reviews, building recommendations and links between artists for the whole community to share and discover. Of course as a registered user the "Nickname / Password" box will become a handy search tool and you can save your preferred settings for the comment sections. So go ahead, cast off the cloak of anonymity and create your account today - it's free, easy and private.