In celebration of their historic 20 years in punk rock, BYO has showcased their most recent signings and releases with this super cheap ($2.99 retail), super high-quality sampler of punk fuckin’ rock. Most attractive to those searching to find a reason to buy this release is the inclusion of two tracks from the upcoming forth [...]

HIT THE LIGHTS – Leaving Town Tonight. These guys impressed the heck out of me with the four songs on their debut EP. The music is rooted in energetic pop-punk, with vocals that remind me of OVER IT. You can download all four of the tracks from their pureVOLUME site.

BLINDSIDE – Shekina

1. THE BLACKTOP CADENCE – Chemistry For Changing Times

2. LAMB OF GOD – As The Palace Burns

3. THE GET UP KIDS – Guilt Show

4. V/A – Blood Sweat and Ten Years

5. ALEXISONFIRE – S/T

As one of the best independent labels currently roaming the plant, Hopeless Records serves up another tremendously cool treat in their “Hopelessly Devoted to You” series with Volume Four. The best asset in this series is the preponderance of unreleased songs, and this disc is no slouch, with more than half of the 18 songs [...]

The band will release “”Subliminable Messages”" in May, and a gigantic tour will follow. For all the press release stuff, etc. visit: gokartrecords.com

- Two wishes here: 1) please have the new album be better than “”Bad Mother Trucker.”" 2) see number one.

1. Is it just me, or has the FCC, in tandem with some of the nation’s largest media conglomerates effected a pretty massive “”values”" shift with little to no dissent? Clear Channel is showing a lot of moxie (and not in a good way) removing Howard Stern from its few affiliates that carry him, and I gather that the witchhunt against controversial radio hosts will continue. I’m no fan of Stern, but I am of fan of letting all people decide what their tastes are, and not merely accomodating those who preach with the largest stick. This is going to get ugly if it is not already there…

2. Rhapsody really is an awesome online music service. Real Networks needs to advertise this more. $9.95 a month – unlimited ultra high-quality streaming of over 40,000 full-length albums with more being added every day, plus a growing selection of indie content to boot. Plus, you can run the service from any computer you use.

3. YELLOWCARD is about to, or already has gone “”Gold”" with “”Ocean Avenue.”" Hooray for good music on the airwaves.

4. THREE DAYS GRACE is about, or already has gone “”Gold”" with their “”S/T”" debut. There is still a lot of crap on the airwaves.

5. Rumor has it that SILENT MAJORITY and INSIDE will be playing a special one-time only show on Long Island, April 30th, as BLOOD RED says goodbye to their guitarist, Vincent Corrigan, as he’s moving to Ireland. Here’s the info from the BLOODRED.NET site:

Vinny’s Last Blood Red Show

Friday April 30th @ Wading River Congregational Church Auditorium.2057 North Country Road Wading River NY.

Blood Red – Kill Your Idols – Heads Vs Breakers – Dearly Departed – Crime In Stereo – Three Years Older + suprise ‘special guests’

6pm – FREE

BLOOD RED is not breaking up however (woo!). It figures that I have a law final that day. I think I need to place a call to some Korean scientists and find a way to replicate myself. This might just be the best show EVER to grace Long Island.

6. As it seems that SAOSIN has imploded, permanently (not confirmed), can anyone else think of a band that had garnered so much attention though only an EP, and to see it crash and burn so vividly?

7. Go buy something at Tower Records. Yes, they are expensive. Yes, they are the only large music retail chain that seriously cares about independent music. No, efforts to save the company from eventual extinction are not futile.

8. GOD FORBID – Gone Forever.

Trustkill has posted the MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD video for “”The Great Red Shift.”" I’ve watched this thing like five times already, and it’s perhaps the best video from a hardcore band that I have ever seen. They grey skies over the Brooklyn Bridge give it a really eerie feel. Taste is subjective, but this one slays all three of the videos that AFI has made this past year.

video: MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD – The Great Red Shift