Unwelcome Guests, Last Laugh, Action Audio

Buffalo, NY’s Unwelcome Guests from have just posted two new songs on their Unwelcome Guests. The fist song, “I’m Just Here To Say Goodbye,” will be released as part of the Art of The Underground Single Series and the second, “Put Down Your Gun,” will be part of an upcoming EP.

Stuart, FL’s Last Laugh have posted a new song on their MySpace page. The song is titled “Call This Home” and is part of their upcoming third full length, You’re Welcome, due out this fall.

Lockport, IL’s Action Audio have posted their deubt EP to their MySpace page. The five songs represent three years of band difficulties and line up changes, but things have seemed to solidify for the group.
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Smashing Pumpkins plan 20th Anniversary tour this fall

According to reports from Billboard, The Smashing Pumpkins will celebrate their 20th anniversary with a handful of U.S. shows in August and September.

Details have yet to be announced, but frontman Billy Corgan told Billboard.com in March the group would hit Chicago, New York and Los Angeles, among other locales, and that guests will appear at some of them.

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My Chemical Romance condemns suicide

Though it would seem obvious to almost everyone (except perhaps the Daily Mail), My Chemical Romance have had to explicitly come out against suicide.The band commented on the controversy:

We have recently learned of the suicide and tragic loss of Hannah Bond. We’d like to send our condolences to her family during this time of mourning. Our hearts and thoughts are with them.

My Chemical Romance are and always have been vocally anti-violence and anti-suicide. As a band, we have always made it one of our missions through our actions to provide comfort, support, and solace to our fans. The message and theme of our album “The Black Parade” is hope and courage. Our lyrics are about finding the strength to keep living through pain and hard times. The last song on our album states: “I am not afraid to keep on living” – a sentiment that embodies the band’s position on hardships we all face as human beings.

My Chemical Romance was the recipient of a trumped up controversy created by Britain’s Daily Mail which attempted to blame the band for the tragic suicide of a 13-year old girl. In the newspaper’s next act of responsible journalism, they plan to blame Green Day for World War II and the Magna Carta.
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H2O’s Toby Morse discusses new album, talks about problems with “Go”

Late Night Wallflower recently interviewed H2O leader Toby Morse. Morse talks about recording the band’s long-awaited new album, Nothing To Prove and also addresses the criticism the band received for their 2001 album, GO:

[GO] just lacked the energy and the rawness of the early stuff. I wish it wasn’t so polished but it is what it is. That’s definitely not the producer’s fault. I blame it on us being less involved. It’s funny now with the new record, people are like, ‘I actually liked GO.’ It was almost like you had to hate it because it was on a major label. Back then people gave a shit what label it was on. Now days, kids don’t give a shit. All the genres have crossed.

You can check out the rest of the interview here.
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Single sells five times as many copies in “Rock Band” versus iTunes

Following a recent report that many bands were signing on to Guitar Hero and Rock Band as a new way to distribute their music comes the news that singles released in the games are outselling even the dominant music store, Apple’s iTunes.

According to this Reuters report, Motley Crue placed its new single, the title track from “Saints of Los Angeles,” for sale as a downloadable track on “Rock Band” well in advance of the album’s release date, which has been pushed back to June 24. The only other places to obtain the track was iTunes and Amazon.

According to data provided by the band’s management, the track was downloaded more than 47,000 times via the Xbox 360 version of the game alone in the first week after it became available. By comparison, the same track received slightly more than 10,000 downloads via digital services like iTunes and Amazon, according to Nielsen SoundScan. With video game versions of tracks clocking in $1.99 versus iTunes’ $0.99, the games offer a real alternative way to sell music.

Would you buy music from a band you liked inside a video game?
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Shorebirds to repress debut 7-inch

Chris Bauermeister of Shorebirds has confirmed that the band will be repressing their limited Shorebirds [7 inch] which has been going for more than $30.00 on eBay.

Along with Chris, the band includes Matt Canino, formerly of Latterman. The band is “almost done” with their LP, titled It’s Gonna Get Ugly. The record will feature 12 songs and is being recorded by former Latterman bandmate Phil Douglas (Cheeky, Slingshot Dakota, Up The Fury). Expect a summer release on Rumbletowne.

The band is urging people to avoid eBay and wait for the repress.

In related news, the band’s label has revealed some details about the upcoming LP:

We’re not doing pre-orders so sit tight about the Shorebirds LP. We haven’t set up any plastic card taking internet mechanisms yet, so sit tight about that too. (aka we’re doing cash and money-order only for now)

[The] chances of us making any of this available digitally are slim to none, seeing as how we are a record label, not an mp3 label. peace!

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Details for Joy Division biopic, “Control”

Details have been announced for the DVD release of Anton Corbijn’s acclaimed Joy Division documentary. The film is titled Control [DVD] and is due out June 03, 2008. The film presents an account of the life and death of Ian Curtis covering his personal battle with epilepsy, romantic troubles with his wife and girlfriend and the overwhelming success of his band, Joy Division. It is based on the account by Curtis’ late wife, Deborah and stars Samantha Morton, Sam Riley and Alexandra Maria Lara.

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The Futureheads: “This Is Not The World”

The FutureheadsBritish post-punk outfit the Futureheads have a fullalbum stream of their new full length. The album is titled This Is Not The World and is due out June 03, 2008 in the US and this week in Europe.

The UK will see two versions of the record available on May 26th. Aside from the standard edition the band is offering a deluxe package via their website that includes a 60 page booklet, a DVD featuring a live show from this past March in London, interviews, acoustic performances and more. The releases are coming out via the band’s self-launched Nul Records label.

You can check out the album here

In related news, the band recently spoke with Boing Boing about their reasons for going label-free this time around.
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The Riptides plan July release for instrumental album

Ottawa’s The Riptides have set a release date for their new, instrumental full length. The record is titled Mental Therapy and is due out July 01, 2008.

The record was produced, mixed and mastered by Mass Giorgini at Sonic Iguana Studios and engineered by Luke McNeill of The Copyrights. The album includes Dan Lumley (Screeching Weasel, Riverdales) on drums and a guest appearance by Blag Dahlia of the Dwarves.

You can check out the song, “Cloak and Dagger” on their myspace page.
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Deathwish, Inc. offers free sampler

The well established hadcore / metal label Deathwish, Inc. has decided to offer a free sampler of new and unreleased songs, most from albums released this year or to be released. Bands represented include Killing the Dream, Blacklisted, Cold World, Reign Supreme, Narrows, Trap Them, Bitter End, The Carrier, Life Long Tragedy, Meltdown, Shipwreck A.D., and Pulling Teeth. The .zip archive also includes artwork and a coupon.

You can find the link in the news section of the Deathwish website, or click here for a direct link.
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Contests: Win a Bomb the Music Industry! test pressing

To Celebrate the long awaited release of the original Bomb the Music Industry! album, Album Minus Band on vinyl Asbestos Records and Punknews are hosting the “Congratulations John on Helping Me win a BTMI! Test Pressing Contest!”

The Rules are simple, attend one of the dates on the Asian Man Tour, and take a picture with yourself and John in it. Creativity counts, and the funnier or more awkward the photo is, the better. The only catch is, you can’t let him know why you’re taking the picture, as he has no idea about this contest existing.

Best picture wins a test pressing of the Album Minus Band LP. Two runners up will get a prize pack from Asian Man including the newest CD release of all five bands on the tour. You can email your photos to [email protected].
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Screeching Weasel’s “Boogada Boogada Boogada” to see deluxe vinyl reissue

According to a report from Ben Weasel, his former band Screeching Weasel will be seeing “some” of their back catalogue reissued on deluxe vinyl.

The first record to get the treatment is 1988’s Boogada Boogada Boogada which will re-mastered with new liner notes and never-before-seen photographs. The vinyl itself is pressed on splattered grey vinyl and The entire record will be packaged in a gatefold sleeve and include a poster.

You can check it out or order one here.
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