This movie better be "----ing awesome," in director Michael Bay's own words on his blog; Transformers drops in 2007, and a for-real trailer appeared over the holidays over here. I wait with bated breath. [soundthesirens]
Yeah, Saddam Hussein is dead. I'm not gonna run this like every other 'zine out there pretending they're experts in international affairs. He's dead, and he pretty much deserved it. Next.
The final details of Cornerstone 2007 have been announced; it'll go down in the usual cornfield in the middle of the fine state of Illinois June 25th-30th. Underoath, Switchfoot and Emery are all in the top headliners confirmed, as well as sets by Flyleaf, Pillar, Anberlin, The Almost, Disciple, The Chariot, The Wedding, Nevertheless, Cool Hand Luke, xDEATHSTARx(you know, the SoCal force with FOUR vocalists), War of Ages, Canada's own Means...the list is endless. I'll have to go. Missed last summer. [Decoy]
In a rather lengthy message via Myspace, longtime P.O.D. manager Tim Cook has detailed the recent goings-on in that camp - namely, guitarist Jason Truby apparently felt it in his heart to depart from the band right around the time former - and founding - guitarist Marcos Curiel contacted the band, leading to his return. How 'bout that. The band will play a massive show in Times Square tomorrow night alongside My Chemical Romance.
Apparently System of a Down are in limbo - singer Serj Tankian told press recently that he didn't know if SOAD were "over or no." I didn't know anyone still cared. Just kidding - Toxicity was a rad record.
I've never heard their music, but understandably I have to mention this - Takeover Records chief Ben Harper(who's departed Yellowcard and Amber Pacific all in this last year calendar year) has joined one of his own label's bands - Hey Mike!. What a stupid name for a band. I smirk as I write that.
MTV caught up with Underoath drummer and soon-to-be rock star in his own right Aaron Gillespie, whose new band The Almost made their live debut in California two weeks ago. In regards to last summer's rumours that the band exited their Warped Tour headlining slot early due to NOFX frontman Fat Mike's needling, Gillespie had this to say: "There's no truth to that at all. [Fat Mike] makes fun of everyone, and he picked us last summer. I don't care what he does. He's old, and that's his shtick. He doesn't have anything else going for him, so why not make fun of people? It was just a rumor that spun out of control." Meanwhile, The Almost are set to have a big 2007, touring around Underoath's obviously-prioritized treks.
Bayside have a new record coming out in 2007, entitled The Walking Wounded. It's their first effort since drummer Jon 'Beatz' Houlihan was killed in a terrible van wreck while traveling through the western US last winter. Check out the title track over here. The album comes out on Victory Records February 6th, just after the band leave for a tour with Anberlin, whose third album Cities arrives the same day. Got all that? Good.
I don't know if I wanna hear it or not, but happy holidays from us here at the D: check out Alexisonfire's rendition of Black Sabbath' 'Sweet Leaf.' Enjoy. Wow.
Happy new year, everybody. Back in 2007 to rock your faces. Drive safe, don't be stupid tomorrow night. Peace.
This story was sent to me by sweetdisaster enforcer DJ Omnifik; as a guy who takes public transit everywhere he goes, this writer is a little concerned that, as noted towards the bottom of the story, only ONE passenger took note of the situation. Awesome. This kid clearly has no parents.
Paint It Black are writing the followup to 2005's Paradise, hoping to have it out sometime in '07. [SPB]
Hit up Set Your Goals' website to hear a tricked out Christmas version of 'Reset'. The band will hit the road in March for two months opening for Alexisonfire, The Explosion(rad band) and Anti-Flag.
We lost a little soul over the Christmas weekend: the Godfather of Soul, Mr. James Brown, passed away at the age of 73 yesterday, prompting a flood of reaction. A small cross-section, ranging from Nas to everyday folks throughout the United States, can be seen over here.. Rest in peace.
Chicago rapper Lupe Fiasco, aside from being one of the fastest-rising stars in the game in 2006, is also an interesting contradiction of earthiness and materialism. Hmm. See yourself what you think.
Enlightening and hilarious. And kinda sad. [Relevant]
This just made being at work late on Boxing Day much easier.
Some Christmas Eve-eve stuff.
From one of the revolving panel of hosts of Over My Head, heard Sunday mornings in Ottawa and surrounding area on CKCU 93.1 FM(The Mighty 93!!), my man Dave Leibold, comes one of the funniest things I've seen this holiday season - with the help of Tourniquet, enjoy A Charlie Brown Heavy Metal Christmas. Awesome.
And from the kids at absolutepunk, who are pretty with it, a tribute to Calvin and Hobbes, who mastered the art of snowmen. Observe. [absolutepunk]
Bad Religion are hilarious. To wit:
"Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit our best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low stress, non-addictive, gender neutral, celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasions and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all...and a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling, and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2007, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures and without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith, choice of computer platform or sexual preference of the wishee. (By accepting this greeting, you are accepting these terms. This greeting is subject to clarification or withdrawal. It is freely transferable with no alteration to the original greeting. It implies no promise by the wisher to actually implement any of the wishes for her/himself or others, and is void where prohibited by law, and is revocable at the sole discretion of the wisher. This wish is warranted to perform as expected within the usual application of good tidings for a period of one year, or until the issuance of a subsequent holiday greeting, whichever comes first, and warranty is limited to replacement of this wish or issuance of a new wish at the sole discretion of the wisher.)" That's gold.
A whole slew of bands have been newly added to 2007's Bamboozle Festival in New Jersey, which in all likelihood I'll not be attending, and therefore don't care that much about - but Rob Base and EZ Rock? What the freak?? You're kidding me!! Awesome. The golden days of rap are coming back.
Rumour has it that mega-actor Johnny Depp is to portray Queen frontman Freddie Mercury in an upcoming biopic. Don't know how true this is, but I love me some Queen.
One of the best punk bands of this millennium thus far, American northeast juggernaut Marathon, broke up earlier this year, but singer Aaron Scott has stayed busy traversing the U.S.A. in his van, writing songs, recording them - and now a new project has emerged. Attica! Attica! is Scott's new baby, and I for one think he's one of the finest unknown songwriters around. Check him out.
Being a Canadian up here, I am a big fan of NHL hockey(go Senators!!), and word from the powers that be has come down that The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus will perform during the first period of the All-Star Game in the new year. I wonder if RJA are fans of the sport, or just cashing in? Hmm...
With all the hype around Underoath these days, drummer Aaron Gillespie's side gig The Almost might be getting a little screwed on the pub side of things - until now: check out a live video over here. Apparently the Almost will tour throughout 2007, whenever Underoath is not. I'm impressed.
Bloodlined Calligraphy, following the abrupt - and none too amicable - departure of vocalist Ally French earlier this fall, have somehow found another girl who can apparently scream like the devil to replace her. Her name's Ellen, there's a new drummer named Robbie, and BLC are hitting the bricks with First Blood and others in the new year. None of the shows are anywhere near Ottawa, so I don't really care to post the dates. [HM]
Autism is a cause near and dear to my heart, so Immortal Records are doing a good thing with the new A Santa Cause II compilation record. Only digitally available through Myspace, it's twenty-six tracks from the likes of Haste the Day, Far-Less, Brandtson, Flee the Seen and a ton more. A portion of sales are going directly to Cure Autism Now, an organization "dedicated to accelerating the pace of scientific research to prevent, treat and cure autism today, and for future generations." Get the details - and the awesome comp - over here. Thanks, kids.
Madball are going into the studio in about a month to record a new album, which they'd like to have in our hands by mid-2007. "We've already got some basic ideas down, and this promises to be our hardest record to date...look out," says main man Freddy Cricien. Incidentally, not that I care about deathcore rapper Necro, but Cricien has been added to the bill at Necro's January 11th show in London, England. Good for Freddy, but I still don't care for Necro. [saveyourscene]
I mention this only because their track from Guitar Hero 2 is SO dang hard to play: Suicidal Tendencies, albeit with a different lineup, have announced a show next April at a festival over in France, as well as a new album. Have I mentioned how hard their song on Guitar Hero 2 is to play? Geez.
On first listen they reminded me entirely too much of Every Time I Die, but He Is Legend's second album won me over a couple years ago because they can write some seriously good hooks. Their new album on Solid State is called Suck Out the Poison, and for the next few days you can head over to their purevolume.com site to hit up a new tune. In related news, Anberlin are apparently putting up some big news Christmas morning on their purevolume site as well. Oh, the intrigue. [IVM]
In addition to touring through Ottawa with Copeland in March, Switchfoot will be performing on Letterman in a couple weeks on January 4th. I like Switchfoot.
I think this just might be real - oh I hope it's real - check out everyone's favourite 63-year-old goregrind bass player and his band The County Medical Examiners. Read.
Ajax, Ontario misfits(that'll be funny in a few seconds, just wait) Sum 41 have completed tracking for twenty new songs, which vocalist Deryck Whibley will then sing his little buns off to in the new year. Meantime, the band have posted their cover of the Misfits' 'Attitude'(see? We TOLD you that it would be funny!), which you can listen to over here. [punknews]
Waaaay back to the day: former Operation Ivy frontman Jesse Michaels joined Rancid onstage in California this week to belt out the Op Ivy tune 'Unity' - Tim Armstrong and Matt Freeman of Rancid, of course, were part of Op Ivy, as noted, waaaay back in the day. This isn't a reunion - or IS it?
My boys No Trigger are having their Japan-only album Extinction In Stereo reissued on this side of the pond by the good kids at New School Records. The album will drop in north America April 10th, by which point NT should have established a firm stranglehold on all things punk-friggin'-rock. What a great band.
Unconfirmed rumour on the street(well, the internet...anyway) is that with the rejoining of Marcos Curiel to P.O.D., the man who took his place - former Living Sacrifice guitarist Jason Truby - has left the band. Who knows. We'll keep y'all posted. [JFH]
All Star United, who have maybe never ever been mentioned in this space, are still kicking, with a new record called Love & Radiation coming out on 7Spin Music March 20th. They wrote some awesome hooks way back in the day - like the mid-1990s. Man, I'm old.
I simply must hear this - while making their sixth record, Orange County vets Project 86 found time to remix a couple songs from ...And The Rest Will Follow, including this version of 'From December', featuring Underoath guitarist Tim McTague on drums and Anberlin guitarist Joey Milligan on, well, guitar. I'm going to listen to this immediately.
Speaking of Anberlin, some of the fellas, when not busy finishing up their third album Cities(due February 20th), are heading to Calcutta, India in January with an organization called Ten. They'll be working to help build a new wing of a safehouse where women who have recently come out of the sex-trafficking industry can make items to sell and sustain a life outside of slavery. That is, in fact, a direct quote from a press release. Keep them in your thoughts and prayers.
Since Free Derek Webb went online three months ago, check out the numbers of those downloading his latest album Mockingbird fo' freezy: eighty thousand people in almost seven thousand US cities, in all fifty US states, and 170 countries worldwide. That is some impressive word-of-mouth. Oh, this just in - Derek Webb is a fantastic singer/songwriter.
In news almost as big now as it was in 2003, former P.O.D. guitarist Marcos Curiel is apparently - according to a Myspace bulletin issued by the band - back among the ranks of Payable On Death; his first show with the band in almost four years will go down New Year's Eve in New Jack City's Times Square. How 'bout that! Oh, and apparently they've signed a new record deal as well. P.O.D. with two guitarists? Wow.
Not sure what my final verdict on the new Copeland record Eat, Sleep, Repeat is myself, but the kiddies over at Pastepunk seem to like it lots. One of them, anyway. I hope they don't follow in the footsteps of Acceptance, who also signed to Columbia Records and them promptly broke up.
Boxing Day will see a new album and live DVD from Matisyahu. The CD, No Place To Be, has seven new songs produced by the likes of Adrock(Beastie Boys), Bill Laswell and others, while the Live In Jerusalem DVD features footage shot a year ago in Israel. [Paste]
Guitarist Ben Harper likes to love 'em and leave 'em - in the last year he's abandoned Yellowcard and then joined Amber Pacific, only now to bail on that ship too. Apparently after writing some stuff with the AP guys, he felt he needed to "rethink his position in life." That must have been some heavy stuff they wrote to whack him out like that. Oh, he also runs Takeover Records, so he's a busy dude. [punknews]
I saw them play in 2005 on a generator stage at Cornerstone Festival Illinois, and now look at 'em - Besieged have signed to Blood & Ink Records, who will release their debut album in 2007. Michigan's finest have finally seen their ship come in! Go listen!
Members of Avenged Sevenfold appear on Good Charlotte's upcoming new album Good Morning Revival, due in March. I'll not be listening. Ever.
As I write this on December 20th, Hatebreed and Killswitch Engage are tearing it up onstage in Providence, Rhode Island - smallest state in the Union, doncha know. I wish I was there instead of here.
Henry Rollins has a TV show? Who gave him a TV show? Who gives any of these people TV shows? Geez.
I really really hope the Terror/Stick To Your Guns/War of Ages tour, going all over the United States beginning mid-January, comes up to Canada. Specifically, Ottawa, but no word on that yet.
Nonpoint remain tour animals, spending the last fourteen months more or less on the bricks, but they'll be recording album number five in the not-too-distant future. This has me excited. "What a day, what a daaaay..." [theprp]
Brisbane, Australia would be a great place to be March 24th, for the Overcranked Festival, featuring confirmed headliners God Forbid and Helmet. There'll be a bunch of local acts performing as well. Find the website for more information.
January 9th will see remastered re-issues of Green Day's first two albums, 1991's 1,039/Smoothed-Out Slappy Hour and '92's Kerplunk! from Lookout! Records, the band's original label home. [pastepunk]
The sophomore edition of the hugely successful Bamboozle Festival has announced that this year's headliners will be My Chemical Romance and Linkin Park, who still exist, which I did not know, but I wasn't really paying close attention to Linkin Park, really, so whatever. Others appearing May 5-6 in New Jersey include Bayside, It Dies Today, Hit the Lights, Mae, Paramore, Relient K, The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus and my boys The Sleeping, who are fantastic and will kill at that show. For all the details, clicky here. [truthexplosion]
I'm kinda glad for it, really: Ozzy Osbourne will not be a part of a sorta-reunion tour for Black Sabbath; two members of the preeminent stoner-metal band alive will tour under the name Heaven and Hell in March. I wonder who still cares enough to go.
Alexisonfire guitarist/songwriter Dallas Green was named Top Canadian Artist of 2006 by Chart magazine for his work with AOF and his solo gig City and Colour. Kudos to him; he deserves it. In related news, Alexisonfire's latest album Crisis has hit platinum here in their home nation of Canada.
I don't know how this escaped me, but Comeback Kid frontman Andrew Neufeld has a little thing going on the side with his brother Joel and some friends. They're calling it Sights And Sounds, and it's straightforward rock and roll for fans of Muse and anything from the mid-'90s. I like it. Check 'em out.
Who here thought Roadrunner Records(Killswitch Engage, Nickelback, Sepultura etc) was worth over seventy million bucks? Warner Music Group(WMG) evidently thought so, paying $73.5 million dollars for the company. I'd just like to point out that Roadrunner was born the same year I was - 1980 - and in my ancestral homeland of The Netherlands. Freaky huh?? [lambgoat]
It's a friggin' soap opera, this band: As Cities Burn, whose sole full-length album has been among Tooth & Nail's best releases of the last few years, have lost their singer. Yes, they're realigning themselves and and yes, they wish TJ and his wife all the best, but the real news is that Solid State will put out another ACB album next summer. Excellence.
Montreal's Blessed By A Broken Heart have recently signed to a "major independent label"(their words) and are also, oh, by the way, looking for a new singer. They want someone good-looking and in shape(again, their words), so if you're that person, find 'em.
Not sure how much credence we should give this, but what the hey: former Strongarm member Chris Carbonell hinted at a possible reunion, most likely over in Japan due to how huge the band was over there. If that were to go well, maybe they'd come to the US. What an enduring legacy those guys left. [buzzgrinder]
According to a poll being run by the kids over at Buzzgrinder, With Blood Comes Cleansing are running away with the title of Best Metal/Hardcore Band of 2006. My vote for August Burns Red keeps them solidly in the top ten, albeit waaaay behind WBCC.
Good news for fans of The Agony Scene - the band will have a new record out by next summer. So far, thirteen songs are complete and ready to record. I like the Agony Scene lots. [theprp]
I had my first ride in a limousine today. They're pretty swanky cars.
Denver, Colorado rap crew The Procussions(Rawkus Records) had one of their number appear on Miami Ink recently, getting 'FORGIVE US' etched onto his back. Awesome episode, awesome crew. Sadly, we can't show you the footage since it's not on their Myspace, just in a bulletin lacking in HTML coding. Their bad.
Huge kudos to the kids at Synthesis for putting this one online.
Rolling Stone has put together its annual 50 Best this week; in among the usual hipster picks are solid records from The Roots, My Chemical Romance, Mastodon(I have to hear that album), what RS calls Pearl Jam's best album in a decade, and of course Yo La Tengo with easily the best album title of all time: I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass. [RS]
Hot on the heels of their little membership fracas/changes last week, Long Island stalwarts From Autum to Ashes have, surprisingly to some maybe, posted a new song. [STS]
Better run out and get yourself some new Gringo Bandito - that of course being the new hot sauce created by Offspring frontman Dexter Holland. It's a weird day for news apparently.
Excellent - I thought they were done; As Cities Burn, conversely, are about to unload some new music on the internet over on their Myspace - it could be up right as you read this!! Their full-length from last year was awesome. [TVU]
In what has to be an early contender for Most Improbable Tour of 2007 already, It Dies Today are taking to the road with...Papa ROACH? What the...wow. [Decoy]
Life In Your Way's Solid State Records debut after years of indie releases is called Waking Giants - but it won't be out anytime soon. The album has been pushed back to March of next year. Crap.
I'm not even gonna reprint any of it - just go and read it. I bet it's hilarious. Behold - a letter from Axl Rose to all six of his fans left explaining the absence of the long-promised Chinese Democracy album from Guns 'N Roses. Riiiiiiight. It's allegedly coming out in March.
One of my favourite new bands of 2006, California's Stick To Your Guns, have found a label with Sumerian Records. Their latest, For What It's Worth, will get the deluxe re-release treatment in February, with some new tunes, new art and a video. Wheee!!
Some touring of interest to regular sweetdisaster readers hither and yon; firstly, Anberlin will headline a tour commencing February 21st in North Carolina with support from Bayside and Meg & Dia - the band's new album Cities will be in stores the day before. Secondly, Relient K and Mae are heading out on a massive trek starting March 9th in NYC, and they'll be in Montreal and Toronto March 13th(Club Soda) and 14th(Opera House) respectively.
...oh, and thirdly, Switchfoot is coming back to Ottawa March 2nd to headline the Capital Music Hall with openers Copeland. Fantastic show.
The new album from Incubus, Light Grenades, sold over a hundred and seventy thousand copies its first week out, equaling a Number One record on their hands. In 2006. Who knew??
Former daredevil Evel Knievel is suing "rapper" Kanye West, claiming that the video for 'Touch the Sky'(along with launching the career of a then-relatively-unknown Lupe Fiasco) is infringing on his intellectual properties. You see, Mr. Knievel - back in the day - rocked an "extraordinarily well-recognized white jumpsuit," much like the one Mr. Kanye sports in the video. Basically, what we're telling you here is that Evel Knievel is broke and wants cash, and he'll take it from anybody. [InReview]
Oh hell yes: Def Leppard, far and away the greatest of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal hair bands of the 1980s, are working on a new record. "A lot of the songs are anthemic sounding," says singer Joe Elliott. Friggin' right!! [Billboard]
"It's not my duty to convert anybody, it's my duty to love everybody. God will bring about the conversion of one's heart, if that's what needs to happen." - Aaron Weiss, mewithoutYou
If you go to Subway, pay attention at all times. My girl lost a hundred bucks to a pickpocket in downtown Ottawa tonight.
That's it. No news. I'm just pissed that someone would steal like that. Keep it dialed in; updates next week.
The new album from Brand New, entitled God and the Devil Are Raging Inside Me, has been getting rave reviews from everyone from Alternative Press to Thursday singer Geoff Rickley - and Brand New frontman Jesse Lacey gave his first US interview since the album came out - check it out over here. [AP]
We errantly posted something yesterday: the Ottawa stop of the Armor For Sleep/Underoath/Taking Back Sunday tour is not February 22nd, as we stated - it's in fact the 27th. Five days off. Cut us a break. SOME of us have been rotting in classrooms doing finals for two weeks.
A band I knew about but didn't really get into until having to play their song 'Freya' on Guitar Hero 2 for PS2, and now I love them. Black Sabbath reincarnated - check out The Sword, rocking like hell right outta Austin, Texas. Amazing.
Snow Patrol are coming to Canada - but not Ottawa. The UK band tacked a few Canadian dates onto their preexisting north American tour supporting Eyes Open, their breakthrough album from last year. The relevant dates:
March 30 - Metropolis, Montreal
March 31 - Ricoh, Toronto
April 7 - Burton Cummings Theater, Winnipeg
April 9 - McEwan Hall, Calgary
April 10 - Shaw Conference Center, Edmonton
Nothing for Ottawa. Again. Brutal. [aversion]
In case anyone's interested, here's a partial list of next year's Grammy Awards nominees, stolen from the fine lads and lasses of chartattack. Note the occasional gem stuffed in amongst the dreck. Observe. Underoath, Lamb of God and Mastodon are both up for hardware. Amazing.
Spike Lee will direct a movie dealing with the 1992 race riots in Los Angeles, called, appropriately enough, L.A. Riots. No cast to speak of has been announced, but filming begins next year. [Relevant]
According to a new study, spam now accouts for nine of every ten emails on this planet. I certainly have no trouble believing this, as I get about fifteen to thirty junkers per day at work now. Some of the fake addresses are pretty funny though.
Another big show for Ottawa's metal heads - Isis are doing a bunch of touring come the new year, including a stop at Barrymore's here in town March 19th, with openers Jesu and Cave In side project Zozobra(awesome name!). I'ma try to be there since I missed Isis two years ago - or as one girl from here in town called them, "Is-is." [AP]
Just in from the burgeoning newsroom known as "Myspace": Underoath and Taking Back Sunday will embark on a big tour in the new year, kicking off in Pennsylvania at Penn State University February 22nd, and including a cross-Canada run that will see them landing in Ottawa March 27th at the Congress Centre downtown. Get your tickets ASAP - this will sell out faster than Seinfeld.
A band I've been hearing about a lot lately, Canada's own Means, have signed a deal with Facedown Records. You can hear them over here. I think I need to spend more time rotting online listening to new music, because I'm falling behind here. [IVM]
For those who still mourn the breakup of Acceptance earlier this year - like, um, me - take heart: a new band has sprung up in their wake called Thunder Thunder, which is a friggin' awesome name. Check out the rock over here.
There have been rumours afoot that MxPx is back with Tooth & Nail Records on a semipermanent, but frontman Mike Herrera said the other day that it's just a one-record deal, this coming album the band are releasing through T&N. So I guess they're sticking with the good folks at Side One Dummy. [rockrebel]
Interesting article from a month or so ago surrounding Andrew Beaujon's book Body Piercing Saved My Life: Inside the Phenomenon of Christian Rock, in which Pedro the Lion's Dave Bazan says he doesn't consider himself a Christian any longer, but an agnostic. Will there be a backlash? Not from me - he's a grown man. Just keep cranking out ridiculously good music, Mr. Bazan. Article is over here.
On what were apparently less than amicable terms, frontman Ben Perri has left From Autumn to Ashes, leaving drummer/vocalist Francis Mark to take over. Perri allegedly lost interest in all things FATA during the recording of their latest album Abandon Your Friends, wrote no lyrics for the record after assuring the band he would, pulled a no-show for practices and left the band two weeks before an Australian tour. Ugliness. [MTV]
Reprinted in full, stolen from MTV:
"MySpace announced Tuesday that it is partnering with Sentinel Tech Holding Corporation to deploy a database with the names and descriptions of convicted U.S. sex offenders within the next 30 days. The move, which comes in response to repeated reports about solicitations from predators on the social-networking site, is an attempt to block sex offenders from the site by using an automated system to search for matches between the database and MySpace user profiles and delete those profiles. The database will be updated every month and include details such as names, age, hair color, height, scars and tattoos." Sound feasible? Perhaps not, but kudos to Myspace and their owners for at least making the attempt.
Rap duo The Coup had a nasty bus accident last weekend and sustained some injuries all around - but they're alive, albeit canceling some shows, which really doesn't matter at all. Keep them in your mind/prayers.
The tour itinerary for Fall Out Boy's Friends or Enemies tour, which was supposed to be highly secretive in an attempt to drum up some hype about FOB's new album Infinity On High(out February 6th), was mistakenly posted on tourmates New Found Glory's website for a very brief amount of time. Whoops. Anyway, one of the stops is in Toronto at the Kool Haus, January 12th. Lifetime is opening some of those shows, but we're not sure about the date in the Big Smoke.
So sd Big Cheese Mike did not get to attend this week's Silverstein-headlined extravaganza due to work restraints - and reportedly The Sleeping and I Am The Avalanche were both amazing. I'm pissed. But everyone should go listen to all three of those bands. And a band who are no more called Subseven, from the USA, who were very good as well. There you go.
Some news from Tennessee metal heartthrobs The Showdown: along with a brand-new album coming in February, their debut A Chorus of Obliteration(produced by Living Sacrifice frontman Bruce Fitzhugh) has been internationally re-released by Century Media with a bonus song called 'Give Us This Day' and the video for 'Iscariot'. [HM]
If rumour proves true, yours truly will have a feature piece on much-missed Christian-rock pioneers The Prayer Chain in the next issue of the previously-mentioned HM magazine. Look for it wherever you buy the mag.
Check out my boy xMarifulx and his band I Refuse. For fans of Helmet and Snapcase. The rock does down here.
One of the best post-hardcore hardcore bands around, Freya, will release their second album through Victory Records on January 23rd. The album's called Lift the Curse, and the last song, 'War Pigs', is expected to be, in fact, a cover of the famed Black Sabbath song. [saveyourscene]
Someone called me up on the radio rap show I do Saturday nights(7-11pm, CHRI Ottawa) wanting to hear this dude The Joe, who'd just put out a new album called The Proletariate. I'd never heard of him, but I have since, and the album gets a nice review over here. For fans of Jurassic 5, Tapwater and Braille? I don't know about all that, but it's a good single, at any rate.
Last-second notice: Mutemath are performing on Jimmy Kimmel Live tonight, so check your local listings and be watching. They'll do 'Chaos' or 'Typical', if I have my guess right.
Oh, and I spoke earlier this week with Dead Poetic singer Brandon Rike; he has not left the band as rumour bespoke last week and this - they're simply not touring to focus on other, more important issues. Notice to anyone under the age of twenty who thinks their favourite bands are their slaves: these guys and girls have personal lives, and those personal lives will always take precedence. Got it? Good.