I might have been the only one, but I didn't know til the last forty-eight hours how much rear end Canada's Olympic baseball team was kicking over in Greece. First game versus...I can't remember, but it was seven-zip for the good guys in red and white. And this morning around five am(I'm a bit of a night owl) I was watching Canada put the boots to Italy; it was like nine-two by the time I fell asleep. GO CANADA GO! And if they get eliminated, I can cheer for the Netherlands, who also have a team. Who knew?
Black Box Recordings is my new favourite label. Why? Because within their roster is included one of the best punk bands in Ontario, The Fullblast. I'm such a fan. Go hit up the site and listen to the tunes. Good times. Oh, and the eighth track's intro is a clip from Back To The Future, where Marty plays that amazing rock and roll Chuck Berry thing! Huge.
Anam Cara are a newish band outta Florida, signed to Strike First Records, and their big claim to fame, at least when they signed, is that their guitarist Octavio used to be in Underoath, this little ol' nothing band you may have heard of.
....that's sarcasm, people. Underoath kill. Anyway, yeah, Anam Cara are pretty good; their four-song self-titled EP made me a fan. Look 'em up.
Saw a couple videos on MuchMusic early this morning; the newest from Belvedere called 'Slave to the Pavement' - this is vintage Belvedere, who've been running strong for almost ten years outta Calgary, Alberta. Speedy punk with metal solos? Amazing! As well, Kiros have an independently produced video in rotation, the name of the song I can't recall, but it was pretty good. Very much like older MxPx in terms of vocals and song structure. They're here in Ottawa again August 29th; c'mon out. I hope to be there.
Another video that really impressed me was 'Jesus Walks', from Kanye West. This guy is something else; I've read about this song getting mad love in the clubs, and it has an overtly Christian message. Props to Kanye for spitting it out and not caring who thinks what over. Plus the song kills.
T-Bone was here for Worshipfest two weekends ago, and did a huge set, yes, but then I got an email from my cousin Renae in Michigan and there was a PICTURE of HER with the BONE!! My cousin! With T-Bone! Stellar!
Anyway.
Essential Listening for August 16th is a band called A Javelin Reign. Ever heard of them? I never had either til this week, when my boy Brian mentioned them and then hooked me up with a copy of the album Wrath of the Rice Cooker for my listening pleasure. Weird, spastic metal that kinda clings to you. Like fungus. I like it. Oh, and Brian's daughter Katie is way cuter than any of YOUR kids.
Wrath of the Rice Cooker? That's SO good.
Some news from P.O.D.: guitarist Jason Truby, with his newfound fame surely helping it to get done, is releasing a 24-track solo acoustic record next month entitled String Theory. It'll be available exclusively through the band's online store at first before hitting stores later this year.
So I borrowed the Flikkemizer's copy of the Tooth & Nail Records 10th-anniversary box set - holy cow, I haven't heard some of these songs in years! I love it. Spitfire were so good - maybe the most insanely heavy band the label ever released - and word has it they're recording this summer!
'What Is This, Some Sort of Freaking Burt Reynolds Convention?' is the name of a new song Norma Jean have cooked up for the upcoming This Is Solid State Volume 5 label compilation. Great title. Oh God, The Aftermath, the band's new album, will be out next March. And click here for a slew of tour dates that I won't get to go to. Booo. [hxc]
sweetdisaster favourites Anberlin are in the studio recording material for their next album, said to be called Never Take Friendship Personal. This has me giddy with excitement, personally; Anberlin's debut was phenomenal. Aaron Sprinkle will handle production on the new album, and I bet it won't sound as poppy as Blueprints did. The band will be on the Nintendo Fusion tour October and November alongside My Chemical Romance, Story of the Year and the UK's Lostprophets. Heady company. [buzzgrinder]
Limp Bizkit(suprised to see their name here?) have kicked guitarist Mike Smith outta the band; Wes Borland is back in the fold. I don't much care either, but 1997's Three Dollar Bill, Y'all$ was a killer record because it was new and raw and Borland tore it up. Word. [theprp]
Strapping Young Lad are metal, and they're Canadian, and their next album is a live DVD called For Those Aboot To Rock. That's hilarious. It'll be out November 2nd on Century Media. So funny.
In local band news, my boy Ryan E. has a new band called Bury Your Chances. Not Bury Your Dead, or Buried Inside, or Buried Alive. Bury Your Chances. If you wanna hear 'em, and they're not bad at all, check this out. I like 'em.
This Just In: Stavesacre have always brought the rock and always will.
If you're a Helmet fan, and if you're not stupid you are, you wanna peruse this to find out when they're coming to your city: these are the dates for the band's first tour in seven years, in support of their first album in that long, Size Matters.
Helmet have announced the dates for their first tour in seven years, they are as follows:
September 17th Atlanta, GA - Cotton Club
September 22nd Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
September 24th Asbury Park, NJ - Stone Pony
September 25th Hoboken, NJ - Maxwell's
September 26th Fitchburg, MA - WAAF Locobazooka
September 27th New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom
September 29th Philadelphia, PA - North Star
September 30th Rochester, NY - Water Street Music Hall
October 01st Buffalo, NY - Showplace Theatre
October 02nd Toronto, ON - Lee's Palace
October 04th Cleveland, OH - The Grog Shop
October 05th Detroit, MI - St. Andrew's Hall
October 06th Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle
October 08th Minneapolis, MN - Grumpy's
October 10th Lawrence, KS - The Bottleneck
October 12th Houston, TX - Engine Room
October 13th Dallas, TX - Gypsy Tea Room & Ballroom
October 14th Austin, TX - Emo's
October 16th Denver, CO - Larimer Lounge
October 17th Salt Lake City, UT - Club Sound
October 20th Vancouver, BC - Richards On Richards
October 21st Seattle, WA - Graceland
October 22nd Portland, OR - Doug Fir Lounge
October 24th San Francisco, CA - Slim's
October 25th West Hollywood, CA - Troubadour
October 28th Phoenix, AZ - The Brick House
October 29th San Diego, CA - The Casbah
October 30th Anaheim, CA - Chain Reaction
Blindside news(terrific band): they wrecked their brand-new tour bus heading in Denver for a show, but no one was hurt, thank God. And they've been playing a new song called 'I Am That I Am' on the ongoing Internal Storm tour. I wanna hear!! Play it for me in my backyard!!
That's it for now.