UPDATE: Reports came in earlier today that eighteen-year-old Heroes star Hayden “Claire” Panettiere has been cast in the role of shock rock queen, Wendy O. Williams, singer of notorious ‘70s punks The Plasmatics. Hayden’s publicist Michelle Bega has since told popular celebrity rumor site PerezHilton.com that “The reports of Hayden Panettiere portraying Wendy O. Williams are inaccurate and nothing more than rumor.”

The G4 article which broke the news claims that filming is set to begin in early March 2008 with a 2009 release in mind, stating that the biopic will “follow the shock-rocker’s life through her troubled upbringing and early New York punk rock scene,” ending with her tragic suicide.

The Plasmatics were an American punk band, formed by Yale University graduate and radical anti-artist Rod Swenson with Wendy O. Williams. The band was a controversial group known for wild live shows that broke countless taboos as part of an assault on American popular culture.

In addition to chainsawing guitars on stage, blowing up speaker cabinets and sledgehammering television sets, Williams and the Plasmatics blew up automobiles live on stage. Williams was arrested multiple times and was seriously beaten in Milwaukee by the Milwaukee police before being charged with public indecency. The group was banned in London where they were labeled as anarchists, and riots followed in Zürich and elsewhere.
Source Continue reading Update: Heroes star will NOT play Plasmatics singer in upcoming biopic →

Eighteen-year-old Heroes star Hayden “Claire” Panettiere has been cast in the role of shock rock queen, Wendy O. Williams, singer of notorious ‘70s punks The Plasmatics.

Filming is set to begin in early March 2008 with a 2009 release in mind, the biopic will “follow the shock-rocker’s life through her troubled upbringing and early New York punk rock scene,” ending with her tragic suicide. According to the sources, producers chose the Heroes star as the lead role to “shock” moviegoers – to live up to Williams name.

The Plasmatics were an American punk band, formed by Yale University graduate and radical anti-artist Rod Swenson with Wendy O. Williams. The band was a controversial group known for wild live shows that broke countless taboos as part of an assault on American popular culture.

In addition to chainsawing guitars on stage, blowing up speaker cabinets and sledgehammering television sets, Williams and the Plasmatics blew up automobiles live on stage. Williams was arrested multiple times and was seriously beaten in Milwaukee by the Milwaukee police before being charged with public indecency. The group was banned in London where they were labeled as anarchists, and riots followed in Zürich and elsewhere.
Source Continue reading Heroes star to play Plasmatics singer in upcoming biopic →

The Loved Ones have announced the details about their upcoming sophomore full length. The record is titled Build & Burn and is due out February 05, 2008. The album was produced by

Pete Steinkopf and Bryan Kienlen of Bouncing Souls as well as Bob Strakele who also acted as engineer and mixer. Members of the Hold Steady also provided some guest performances.

The band is promising some new material on their upcoming tour with NOFX.
Source Continue reading The Loved Ones announce upcoming album →

GSL, home of bands like 400 Blows, The Jai-Alai Savant, The Locust, An Albatross and many others has decided to close its doors. The label was founded by Sonny Kay of Angel Hair in 1993 and eventually partnered with Omar Rodriguez-Lopez – then of At the Drive-In and currently of The Mars Volta – and released many of Omar’s side projects.

The label explained the impetuous for the closure:

We’ve experienced the onset of factors that have seriously limited our ability to maintain what we feel is the essence of the label; the experimental attitude and artistic freewheeling of times past are simply no longer sustainable. Rather than compromise our goals and beliefs, or allow our course to be charted by financial constraint and an industry in flux, we’ve decided the time has come for GSL to cease releasing new music, and to close this chapter of our story.

The label promises that the back catalogue will remain in print for the forseeable future.
Source Continue reading Gold Standard Labs closing doors →

Streetlight Manifesto has announced tour dates that run until March (!) of 2008 in support of their upcoming record Somewhere In The Between. The band kicks off the first leg of their supporting tour this November, taking Suburban Legends and The Stitch Up (featuring Dan Potthast of MU330) along for the ride. Following those US dates the band heads to Australia with Reel Big Fish and Less Than Jake. They return to the US for a second leg of their album support tour, then it’s back overseas to Europe with Reel Big Fish.

The band’s new record is titled Somewhere In The Between and is due out November 13, 2007. It is the follow-up to the Keasbey Nights revival, which was released in 2006.
Source Continue reading Tours: Streetlight Manifesto (US / Australia / Europe) →

Social Distortion has canceled their February 2008 Australian dates at the Soundwave Festival due to circumstances beyond their control.

“We apologize for any inconvenience to our Australian fans and hope to make it there as soon as possible,” the band noted.
Source Continue reading Social Distortion cancel Australian tour dates →

After minimal activity for the past few years, critically acclaimed progressive outfit Suicide Note have begun work on their next full length and follow up to 2004’s Too Sick to Dance and their Split with Breather Resist.

The band will begin work on the album in mid-January with producer Kurt Ballou. You can check out some of their older material on their myspace page.
Source Continue reading Suicide Note set to record →

Quebec’s GFK have a handful of upcoming dates in their home province. The band will tour alongside Wasted Sunday, Serenity In Silence and Never More Than Less.

The band is supporting their latest EP, Thanatopolicy, released late last year via New Horizon Records.
Source Continue reading Tours: GFK (Quebec) →