Looks like our recent video of the week featuring Smoke Or Fire was more than just a one-off deal. The band has recruited Avail bassist Gwomper full-time into the band and will be recording with him soon:

So happy to announce that Gwomper from the AVAIL will be playing bass with us. While the Avail camp is bringing some new beautiful babies into the world Gwomp will be touring and recording with us on our new record, and we couldn’t be happier.

For all of you who wrote about trying out for the bass player spot, thank you so much, but i’m sure you can understand that we wanted someone close to us to join the family. To have it be a friend, as well as a musician who is part of a band that inspired us to play the music we do, is more than exciting for us. We’ll be announcing record details and tour plans soon.

The band released This Sinking Ship last year.
Source Continue reading Gwomper (Avail) joins Smoke Or Fire full-time, recording soon →

Rock Sound magazine caught up with the legendary Walter Schreifels (Quicksand, Gorilla Biscuits, Walking Concert) to talk about the imminent reunion tour as well as the band’s future plans:

We officially never broke up, we just agreed to pick this up again at a future date, we have been waiting for the right time, we were talking about it and all of a sudden we had a really great tour booked and it just seemed like the time to do it properly.

We are writing but right now we are just making sure we can play the old songs! Playing the old stuff is us getting our legs back as a band but we want to get a new record together, get new material and see how we can gel it with the old.

Interestingly, the band never actually left Island Records and still maintains a relationship with the label that released United By Fate.

You can find the interview here.
Source Continue reading Rival Schools talk new record, reunion →

Influential experimental post-punk group The VSS will see their 1997 release, Nervous Circuits, re-released on Hydra Head Recordigns on May 20th, 2008. The album will be remastered and comes with a bonus DVD with 2.5 hours of live footage. If you pre-order the album, you’ll also get a bonus disc titled The Skin of Tiny Teeth which contains rare, unreleased tracks, and a full live set for KZSC radio in 1997.

The VSS broke up in 1997, and members went on to form the groups Year Future and Pleasure Forever, while also starting the now defunct Gold Standard Labs.
Source Continue reading Hydra Head to reissue The VSS’s ‘Nervous Circuits’ →

Stomp Records‘ Saint Alvia Cartel, which consists of ex-members of Grade, Jersey, and Boys Night Out, have posted a new video from their self-titled debut full length.

The band recently announced the dates for a Canadian tour kicking off in May. The shows will feature The Arkells and precede the band’s upcoming run on the Warped Tour.

Source Continue reading Saint Alvia Cartel: “Blonde Kryptonite” →

New Ferret signing Knights of the Abyss have posted a song from their upcoming debut for the label. The record is titled Shades and is due out June 24, 2008.

You can find “Penalty of the Tyrant” on their myspace page.
Source Continue reading Knights of the Abyss: “Penalty of the Tyrant” →

Made Out Of Babies have posted the first track from their upcoming album for The End Records. The record is titled The Ruiner and is due out June 24, 2008.

You can find “Cooker” on their myspace page.
Source Continue reading Made Out of Babies: “Cooker” →