In the past few days, a lot of people [myself included] have had significant problems connecting to the site, receiving an error message saying the server is full. I haven't heard from Aubin on this, but my best guess is that we've run out of bandwidth. What usually works best for me is just hitting "Reload" until it allows you to connect. Hopefully we can get all this straightened out soon, and you can all keep getting your news here. Stay tuned for any updates.

Hi, here's the deal. We used to get free hosting, and the site ran on it's own dedicated server. So it easily kept up with the load from people checking out the site. However, we lost the free hosting, and I had to move the site to a shared hosting company until I can scrape together enough money to pay to get the server up again. It ain't cheap, and I don't make any money from the site so I can't afford it right now. - Aubin

I don't usually post rants because I feel it cheapens the "news" aspect of this site... so I will post very little about this. Alternative Tentacles brought my attention to it, I'll let it speak for itself:

(from TOPPS trading cards website:)
A NEW SERIES DOCUMENTING AMERICA'S GREATEST CHALLENGE

This high-gloss 90-card set contains biographical information on the civilian and military leaders entrusted to guide us through this fight, statistical data and photos of military hardware. Kids need to understand that the President (and his team) will keep them safe and that evil-doers will be punished. Our cards deliver the details in a medium with which they are familiar and comfortable. Each pack contains 7 premium quality trading cards and 1 sticker featuring flags and patriotic designs... Not included are the disturbing images shown repeatedly on national newscasts. Instead, Topps has chosen to focus on America's strengths -its elected leaders, the security of its military, its worldwide support…and the courage and unity of its people.

So a bunch of bands have launched or relaunched their websites recently. Check out the following sites for info on all your favorite bands:
Green Day
Me First and the Gimme Gimmes
Jets To Brazil
Dashboard Confessional
Cursive
Small Brown Bike
I'm sure there are more, but this is all I could remember off the top of my head. Most are fairly graphically intense, too, so make sure your computer is up-to-date. Now go rock it out.

"This is taken directly from the Fearless Records website:
"We signed a new band! Yay, They are called Keepsake. They are from Coral Springs, FL, had a few releases on eulogy recordings, and will be going into the studio to record next month. Their new album will be one of the first we plan to release in 2002. Another album we plan on releasing will be the much anticipated follow up to "Punk Goes Metal" it is called "Punk Goes Pop" so far it will feature exclusive tracks by: Further Seems Forever, Rufio, Dynamite Boy, Keepsake, Showoff, Noise Ratchet, Stretch Armstrong, Element 101, Reach The Sky, Knockout, Fake ID, Rock Kills Kid, The Starting Line, Thrice and more.""
Keepsake is pretty good, so at least this will get them more distribution. As for the "Punk Goes..." comps, lets hope the pop one will be better than the metal one, a review of which can be found here.

"I got this in a street team e-mail from Fueled By Ramen: "FBR is proud to announce the newest members to the FBR family- WHIPPERSNAPPER!! This Atlanta/Athens,GA based band has been one of my personal favorites for years. I finally had a chance to meet them and see them play for the first time a few months ago and was completely blown away. Not only is their live show amazing and flawless, they are some of the coolest mother crappers I've ever met. We don't have an exact relaese date yet but it will probably be sometime in March (right on the heels of the LTJ "goodbye Blue and White" cd)"
Check Out: www.whippersnappermusic.com for some mp3s. Great band."

"Go to mp3.com to downlaod the DownBelows. Toronto Street Punk.. featuring : Brian Wickes (tirekickers) on Guitar, Philthy Page (blatherskites) Bass, Mike Dutchin (Blank Stare) Drums, Al Nolan (trigger happy, citizen kill) Vocals. Toronto's best doing their worst!
www.downbelows.onedown.ca"

"THE MR. T EXPERIENCE "And The Women Who Love Them" was originally released in 1993. Its tight production, no-nonsense arrangements, clever lyrics and giant melodies helped set the benchmark for punk rock with pop sensibilities in the 1990s. This "special addition" contains the original 6 song EP, MTX's "Alternative" EP including previous outtakes from the original sessions, demos, b-sides and compilation tracks, all re-mastered with updated and expanded artwork, 25 tracks in all on one CD. THE MR. T EXPERIENCE'S Dr Frank and longtime producer Kevin Army have combed the Lookout! vaults to piece together a comprehensive look at the band's non-album output from 1993-1997. Featuring an extensive 12-page booklet with liner notes by Chris Appelgren and Dr. Frank. To read an excerpt of Frank's notes, click here."

"The ENOUGH FANZiNE reports: Finally, there's some more new music from Mars Volta online. For all of you who have never heard this name before - kid, it's the new band by former At the Drive Ins Cedric and Omar. Anyway, for the new music stream which is about 6 mins long click HERE! If you want to get to know what Tony and the rest of ATDI is doing, download some of the Sparta Mp3's on their MP3 page HERE."
Frankly, I think Sparta kicks Mars Volta's ass, but ATDI beats 'em both. Get back together, guys!

"On mtv.com JEW fans can see Zach Lind and Jim Adkins talk about the difference between selling albums and selling out. They also talk about the meaning behind the video for their new single, "The Middle" which you can also see a clip of. The video is basically a fully clothed boy walking through a party full of people in their underwear, until he meets a clothed girl and they feel connected and fall in love. Not a bad video."

"Pennywise has updated their website with some new videos. They have a live video of Bro Hymn from their San Diego show. From the same show they also have a video of the guy who proposed on stage. The video for "My God" is also now available. (pennywisdom.com)"