It's Sunday July 15th, 2007. Every once in a while the universe perfectly illustrates one of Tom Waits' metaphors. This is one of those times. Makes you think.
The people must have something good to read on a Sunday
So the big news this week was that the Dropkick Murphys will for the first time call a major label their home via their own Warner imprint. They should watch Against Me! closely to see how the big league waters are. That band supported their own Warner debut this week with an appearance on Conan O'Brien. The high profile of a major does give you quite a soapbox, just ask Tim McIlrith. The Rise Against frontman laid out just what's wrong with America this week. Thanks Tim! AFI seems to be doing ok as well, with a potential EP in the works and their electronic side-project / failed spelling test Blaqk Audio set to debut soon. Of course it's not all wine and roses once you're signed to one of the big four. Thursday had to hire a team of bloodthirsty lawyers to get out of their deal. They probably didn't want to get stuck on a package tour with Maroon 5 like the poor Hives did. There is life after the major though, and Thursday need look no further than Bad Religion to see how to do it right. This week Mr. Brett and company talked politics and revealed some behind-the-scene info on their recently released New Maps Of Hell. Less Than Jake are (for the second time) returning to the indie life, and a session at the the Blasting Room sounds like a fine way to shake the stink off.
This week saw the demise of much beloved noisemakers Planes Mistaken For Stars. At the same time we learned that news of Reggie and the Full Effect's break-up were greatly exaggerated. The Dillinger Escape Plan (shit)talked their former drummer who recently jumped ship to join Coheed and Cambria. Psychobilly freaks the Horrorpops are short a few members as well. The loss of Geoff, Kamilla and Naomi has left the band a three piece (but there's WAY more room in the van now).
Our Video Of The Week featured the second segment of an interview and live performance by Against Me!. We also made the exclusive debut of The Falcon's video for "The La-Z-Boy 500". We streamed lots of new audio this week, including Guff's new full length Symphony of Voices, an exclusive remix of the Static Age, a reading from Ronen Kauffman new book, the full length from country-punk act Two Cow Garage, and the new record from Sacramento pop-punks Secretions.
Click Read More to see this week's contests, streaming music and more.
Radio Free Punknews
Check the Punknews Music page to stream all sorts of anticipated new music including songs from Ben Weasel's new solo record, a new song from legendary hardcore pioneers Bad Brains, a full album from Philadelphia melodic hardcore band Giving Chase, songs from the The Story Changes' upcoming full length, a full album stream from the Gaslight Anthem, new music from the new Clorox Girls' album J' aime Les Filles, Trophy Scars' EP Hospital Music for the Aesthetics of Language, the split between Fox Trotsky and Die Benny, and four songs from recent A-F signing Incommunicado.
Suntans are for Winners Far From Finished July 17, 2007 finally marks the official release date for the upcoming full length effort from Boston punk rocker's, Far From Finished. To celebrate the release of "Living In The Fallout", Far From Finished, Think Fast! Records, Lucky 13 Apparel, and PunkNews.org have teamed up for a contest giveaway that runs from now until the street date. A grand prize winner will receive a prize package valued at $128 including the brand new disc, a poster, a skate deck, and clothing items from the band, Think Fast! and Lucky 13. One runner up will receive the new disc, a poster, some t-shirts, and goodie bags.
Win an 8-Bit Nintendo and Excite Bike (?)
Later this month, the indubitable dudes from Mustache will be releasing their new album. The record is titled Babes Say the Hottest Things and is due out July 24, 2007. To celebrate this in the most appropriate way possible, the band has put together a classic Nintendo package complete with the great Excitebike, a new CD Walkman and copy of the new album. It's all perfectly reasonable if you understand Mustache, and you will once you check out a few songs like this one: "I Got a (Mustache!)."
Win a skateboard and swag from Rooney
The contests don't stop at Punknews.org, apparently, as we've got another neat little giveaway for you guys. We've got a unique little package from Rooney which coincides with the release of their new record, Calling the World. The band has given us a signed longboard and a Rooney prize pack (tote bag, t-shirt, Calling the World CD) for one winner and a prize package for an additional four others. A longboard is something we've never given away but I keep seeing people using them to get around the city so they're pretty useful and hey, it's a long skateboard.
Ryan's Hope invades Canada
Next week Chicagoland's Ryan's Hope will hit the road and storm the Canadian border, determined to lay siege to an igloo and return it to Illinois for their own nefarious purposes. But wait, you're not in Canada yet you still want to share in the glory? Well then check below for our merch contest to win some neat swag from Punknews Records.
Win an XBOX360 from Sound The Alarm
On July 17, 2007, Sound the Alarm will be releasing their full length and major label debut. The record is titled Stay Inside and is due out July 17, 2007. To celebrate, Sound the Alarm and PunkNews.org have assembled a contest in which you can win an XBOX360, Autographed Poster and a copy of the album. There are also prizes for two runner ups who will walk away with a Sound the Alarm Poster and a copy of Stay Inside.
Staff Blogs
When not writing about music on the internet, many members of the Punknews staff find time to write about music on the internet. You can check out the depraved musings of Adam White at 2:59, Justin August has some Kinder Words for you, while Chris Moran's all over the place with content rocking both MySpace and Flickr. Reviewer Jesse Raub posts short fiction and web comics to Things That Go Bump In My Head and his zine Bitter Press.
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, the Punknews.org Facebook Group, and contribute your listening habits to the weekly charts Last.fm group.
Come Join Us
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.