Let’s get one thing straight: the people who routinely compare INTERPOL to JOY DIVISION never heard a single note of JOY DIVISION. INTERPOL has however, established a relatively unique sound and found overwhelming success with it, impressively avoiding radio singles and making it to the “bright lights” (sorry) with pure industry and fan buzz. After [...]

SNAKE EYES – Demo 2005

- Two songs from this 1917 Records release can be listened to here. Features ex-members of DONNYBROOK, TERROR and CARRY ON.

We’re a mere three weeks away from the release of the BOUNCING SOULS highly anticipated double-disc live set, titled Live (shocker). Chunksaah Records has posted the following from the band on its site, which includes links to three live mp3s:

“”We started as a live band playing basements, bars, parties, and clubs to anyone who cared. Over the years we‚Äôve made records, toured the world over, met so many people and created countless memories together. Through it all, the live show has remained the essence of THE BOUNCING SOULS. We tried to capture that essence with this collection. It is dedicated to everyone who has been there along the way to share it with us.”"

This is a double disc live set of their greatest hits, entitled simply Bouncing Souls Live. After pounding the East Coast and the world beyond the now veteran live band have set out to follow up their hugely successful Tie One On EP with a definitive collection of songs for fans old and new, a career spanning retrospective as they begin to write a follow up to 2003’s Anchors Aweigh [Epitaph].

The record is a glimpse of the spark that makes THE BOUNCING SOULS such a cultural enigma; their simple straight-ahead love of the live set and steadfast dedication to their rabid devotees could not be more aptly captured.

So turn up you stereo and raise your glass to 15 more years…ladies and gentleman, the Bouncing Souls.

mp3: “”Apartment 5F”"

mp3: “”The Ballard of Johnny X”"

mp3: “”Punx in Vegas”"

New York’s FREYA have posted a lengthy update on their site, freya315.com which includes a slew of relevant scene news.

“”It’s been a busy time for FREYA. Dennis Merrick, formerly of EARTH CRISIS, has joined us and played his first show in Ogdensburg NY. The band sounds stronger than ever. We had a great response and are looking forward to playing there again next year. We had some awesome shows with If Hope Dies, Enough is Enough, Yesterday Tomorrow, and Number 2. Look for some show dates with freya and If Hope Dies this winter/spring.

Karl just got back froma tour with A PERFECT MURDER where he filled in on vocals. They toured throughout Quebec and Ontario with TEARS FROM THE SKY. Karl had a great time with APM and is thankful for all the kind words from the fans he met up there. While in Canada he met with Mercedes from KITTIE. Her company, Poison Black, now sponsors Freya as well as Motive Clothing Company and Eblood from Europe.

Straight edge legends DAMNATION will be recording in the next couple of months, and Karl will be doing some guest vocals with Mike DC. EARTH CRISIS toured the states with them back in the day and we had an awesome time together. Erick has recently recorded the former members of AMERICAN NIGHTMARE’s new band (?!?!?!? – Ed.) as well as WHITE OUT and THE UNHOLY.

This winter PETA2 will be having a benefit festival in Boston. So far the roster is Shadows Fall, First Blood, and Freya. The “”Struggle to Survive”" video we did with them has recently reached its 100,000 mark and is going into its second print this month.

- You would think the return of DAMNATION would be something that would merit a little more chatter!

From Epitaph.com:

Street date: February 21, 2006

This DVD features explosive live footage shot over two nights at the famous Hollywood Palladium that has been condensed down to one spitfire performance! This DVD also contains extremely rare content such as an acoustic piano version of “”Cease,”" in-depth interviews with all current band members discussing the band’s formation, evolution and career. You’ll also get never-before-seen live footage from the New Wave Theatre circa 1981-1983, a band photo gallery featuring new and vintage images of the bands, as well as a slew of music videos from the band!

- YES!!

Here’s a response I received to my post about VAUX yesterday and the unfortunate label predicament the band is currently in:

“”I just wanted to throw in a bit of information regarding your Vaux post. Well, first let me say I saw Vaux and The Letters Organize tonight in Detroit. However, I had work right before and had to take off from there so I didn’t get a chance to check out the computer and this whole news about Vaux getting dropped or whatever was unknown to me. So I got to the show and I was really disappointed. I think maybe 10-15 kids showed up and the rest was the opening local act and their friends. Anyways, Vaux does have copies of their new CD for sale at the shows. They burned their own copies and made a sleeve with some spraypaint and they’re selling it for five dollars. The singer didn’t say anything besides that the CD was supposed to be out this week but then “”things went bad like they always do”" or something along those lines. At this point I still thought the album was going to come out on November 8th so I didn’t buy the disc (which they are selling with a DVD as well). Bummer though because they played an alright show with amazing lights. Anyways, I just thought I’d let you know that they at least have something new to offer fans, but it isn’t a whole lot.”"

- Corey Schmidt, Acclaimedpunk.com

Perfectly described as “thrashy youth crew,” Buffalo’s OUR TIMES are an up-and-coming hardcore band to keep an eye on. They finished recording a bunch of songs in September, and have tossed a couple of them up on the band’s myspace page.

Ok… so that’s a tad of an overstatement, but that was the first thing that came to mind after I listened to The Path We Tread by XLOOKING FORWARDX, a long-running Maryland hardcore band that has a brand new release on Facedown Records. Truth be told, the religious overtones are fairly minor compared to the album’s overall ultra-positive stance, and it wouldn’t be fair to the band to omit this point. These guys have been at it for years (the last time I saw them play was in 2001), and all they’ve done is steadily improve their musicianship and the quality of their lyrics. With a recording (done at Trax East) that finally sounds like the band had more than $500 to go into the studio, The Path We Tread should open up a lot of new doors for the group. Check out two songs from the 19 song disc at the band’s pureVOLUME site.