WAKING ASHLAND sure have come along way since their time spent as an Absolutepunk.net bandwagon band and later as a faceless Tooth And Nail act. While they have always been based in piano-driven pop, they never wrote anything genuinely good because they were previously too caught up in the emo movement. With a new home [...]

Long Island’s THIS IS HELL are currently featured at Marvel.com. Guitarist Rick Jimenez sat down with Marvel.com writer Ryan Penagos to discuss the band’s crankin’ new release Misfortunes, Jimenez’s other hardcore band, SOLDIERS, and (of course), his affinity for anything related to Marvel comics (you knew there was a hook in there somewhere). You can check out the feature here.

Via the Bridge Nine Board:

From the keyboard of Craig Mack:

Its been a while…

We [LIVING HELL] are hard at work writing another record (well one of us is). We are not sure if this is a EP/LP etc. We are about 4-5 songs into it and can confidently say this is by far the best material to date. Its a little more raw, a little more thrashy and a little more out there. It is a soundtrack of anger and depression. You can still order the critically acclaimed The Lost and the Damned from REVHQ… www.revhq.com. G.I.T.

In other news, Big Jim has decided to step down as Living Hell’s full time bassist. Jim is a good friend and the band won’t be the same without him. But with bad news comes good as DFJ will be taking over as the the full time bassoonist. Justin has been one of my best friends for over a decade and I am very excited to officially be playing in a gig machine with a legend.

link: myspace.com/livinghellhc

Reflections Records’ recent signing WRAITH have posted a brand new song titled “Stood Up By The Light Day,” to their MySpace page. The hardcore/metal/grind bands compares favorably to groups like MISERY INDEX and early NEUROSIS.

Southern California hardcore punks BULLET TREATMENT have a new song posted on their MySpace page. The track is titled “Law of Observation” and is from an upcoming split 7″ with IT’S CASUAL. According to the band’s label, Basement Records, the latest incarnation of the group features members of VULTURES UNITED, INSTED (!) and THE ICARUS LINE.

From the inbox:

Music Saves Lives, the trusted conduit between music, entertainment and important life-saving causes, teams up with Loud Bytes/Binary Sounds to distribute 400,000 free music download cards with a potential of over 7 million song downloads to young blood donors at MUSIC SAVES LIVES drives at nationwide universities, colleges, and high schools.

The MUSIC SAVES LIVES exclusive download card, in cooperation with Binary Sounds and with the help of Thrive Records, features free tracks from 18 artists including Plain White T’s, All American Rejects, Head Automatica, Pennywise and Them Terribles, The Matches, Josphine Collective, Bad Religion, Motion City Soundtrack, Vogue In the Movement. Stacy Clark, Run Doris Run, We Shot The Moon, NOFX, Liam and Me, Sink to See, Far-less and Street Drum Corps.

The program, launching mid-February, will mark one of the largest private download card promotions designed to promote blood donation at any MUSIC SAVES LIVES drive, through the American Red Cross, New York Blood Center and blood banks all over the U.S., and to encourage future frequent donation this summer in exchange for a VIP pass to the world famous Vans Warped Tour.

Binary Sounds is a digital record label built and run in partnership with students nationwide. The music catalog is comprised of songs that are licensed from unsigned artists; each individually selected by students.

Loud bytes provides artists with physical solutions to distribute digital music and media. Solutions include a variety of merchandise and download cards that are customized for individual artists. Loud bytes also offers corporate clients custom download and content redemption solutions.

Links:

- musicsaveslives.org

- binarysounds.com

- loudbytes.com

- No song from BLOOD HAS BEEN SHED?

From the inbox:

Pennsylvania based modern-rocker quartet THE STARTING LINE will headline their north American tour in support of their Virgin Records release, Direction. The tour will kick off in State College, PA on March 18, following their overseas tour in Australia. STEEL TRAIN, FOUR YEAR STRONG, and BAYSIDE will be providing support.

3/18 State College, PA LuLu’s

3/19 Pittsburgh, PA Mr. Small’s Theatre

3/20 Detroit, MI St. Andrews

3/21 Chicago, IL Metro

3/22 Milwaukee, WI The Rave II (Downstairs)

3/24 Minneapolis, MN First Avenue

3/25 Des Moines, IA People’s Court

3/26 Sauget, IL Pop’s

3/27 Kansas City, MO The Beaumont

3/28 Denver, CO Gothic Theatre

3/29 Salt Lake City, UT In The Venue

3/31 Seattle, WA El Corazon

4/1 Portland, OR Hawthorne Theatre

4/2 Eugene, OR McDonald Theatre

4/3 San Francisco, CA Slim’s

4/4 Sacramento, CA The Boardwalk

4/5 Irvine, CA Verizon Wireless/Bamboozle

4/6 Las Vegas, CA Jillian’s

4/7 Tucson, AZ The Rock

4/9 San Antonio, TX The White Rabit

4/10 Dallas, TX House of Blues

4/11 Houston, TX Meridian

4/13 Orlando, FL House of Blues

4/14 Fort Lauderdale, FL Revolution

4/15 St. Petersburg, FL Jannus Landing

4/16 Atlanta, GA The Masquerade

4/17 Norfolk, VA Norva Theatre

4/18 Philadelphia, PA Electric Factory

4/19 Worcester, MA Worcester Palladium

4/20 Washington, DC 9:30 Club

Three-band split CD releases are the rarest of breeds, but make a lot of sense in a period of time where every band could use as many cheerleaders as possible in helping get their music heard. Engineer Records’ first attempt at this setup is well done, with all three bands sharing an uptempo indie-rock core, [...]