With the admirable foresight (and good fortune) of putting out THE GASLIGHT ANTHEM’s debut full-length, Sink or Swim, it’s virtually impossible to fault XOXO Records for shaking hands with LET ME RUN another anthem-blasting, toe-tapping, guitar burning, Jersey punk rock band with a solid grip on rock n’ roll signposts. Meet Me At The Bottom [...]

According to the band’s website, rumors about a duet with indie-rock singer FIEST are true. The track, titled “You and I,” will be on the new album, which will be unleashed upon the world sometime in June. Furthermore, the band has unveiled the track list for the album. Now you can sit in your room and imagine what these songs are going to sound like; isn’t the internet useful? Here’s the information, straight from the band’s website: The forthcoming and still-untitled next Wilco album is nearing completion. Jim Scott and the band spent the last few weeks mixing in Jim’s studio in Valencia, California and here’s a list of song titles spied on the reels — note this is not necessarily complete and not in sequence. Deeper Down Conscript (aka I’ll Fight) One Wing Solitaire Wilco (the song) Country Disappeared Everlasting Bull Black Nova Sonny Feeling You and I Rumors and blogs regarding a guest appearance on that last track are, amazingly, quite true. Feist does indeed lend a great vocal to You and I. Other details will emerge in the coming weeks. The release is currently scheduled for late June on Nonesuch.

Part of the allure of so-called viking metal is its un-irony factor. If you take that away and force the genre, it gets boring and corny real fast. That’s the fight that Tennessee’s DESTROY DESTROY DESTROY constantly face up against on Battle Sluts. Either the band is trying to hard to knock out all of [...]

Short version: In all but name, the (unofficial) Deathwish 2009 tour lived up to its billing. Longer version: PULLING TEETH opened, and while they had a couple of fans there, those fans were quickly wrapped up in the performance, helping out the vocalist (who liked wrapping the microphone cord around his neck…) on almost every word. They felt like the reverse of the other bands on the bill, playing metal influenced by hardcore rather than the other way around. Heavy, sprawling and thick seemed to sum up their performance, which gives me a strong urge to spin their new record. I’ve heard a lot of hype around RISE AND FALL and after seeing them live, they failed to live up to it. They’re a good live band, but not legendary. Perhaps it was an off night. The songs themselves, (fast hardcore with an obvious metallic sheen) are awesome, but like PULLING TEETH, not having heard the recorded versions makes it hard to get into them. COLISEUM, a three piece from Louisville, Kentucky, while quite proficient, effusive and fun to watch (I think this is the band that Ryan Patterson is in…), but no one in the black t-shirt wearing crowd got into them, despite an excellently worded DIY speech onstage, that unfortunately, racked up 25+ uses of the word fuck in three minutes. Oddly enough, there was even a hint of a harmony or part that didn’t sound artfully abrasive. I wonder if that was on purpose. Anyway, the band also made me realize how much I miss ELLIOTT. CEREMONY stole the show, which, by the fourth or fifth song, the bassist asked the security people at the Grog Shop if, in exchange for moving the monitors, the staff would stop punching CEREMONY’s fans. Really, you don’t need to know much else. I didn’t expect the band to get such an intense reaction outside of the coasts and I was dead wrong. Every song had kids nearly attacking Ross to get at the microphone and I even found myself up there for Kersed and Pressure’s On. Hardcore remains in good hands. CONVERGE, on the other hand, headlining a concert which every single band had some release on the label they’ve founded, having a good number of their friends from INTEGRITY in attendance, played at 35% and pretty much went through the motions, playing the songs at a relaxed pace. Kidding. All four dudes looked physically exhausted by the end of the set, Nate Newton in between making fart jokes, was flinging his bass around like a bizzaro Zach Jordan, Ben Koller was hitting the drums as if he was supremely annoyed it wasn’t dispensing candy yet and Kurt Ballou apparently set his guitar to “shred-tastic”, sometimes teasing the crowd, sometimes pummeling it. Oh, and Jake Bannon was no slouch either, screaming into the waves of the crowd, for the moments when the Saddest Day, Concubine and No Heroes hit, it felt like the force of a tsunami was bearing down on the group, but they didn’t seem to mind. Never having seen CONVERGE before what struck me was the switch that went off in their heads after the songs. During the songs, they were serious, but as soon as the songs finished, they were joking with the crowd and with hecklers with smiles all around. The sheer speed of the turnaround is something I’m not used to. It’s a shame this tour isn’t going on longer, but the people that were there, a snarky Mike Shea (Founder and Publisher of Alternative Press) included, witnessed something special.

According to Punknews.org, THE LEMONHEADS have signed with The End Records. I have never heard of the label before, but apparently they are home to a band called LORDI, whose concerts include swooping flaming dragon swords and the tossing of exploding baby dolls. Be in awe of this photo of LORDI below: Any record label man enough to house that band is ok in my book. THE LEMONHEADS will release an album of covers on the label, which will include tributes to songs by WIRE and LEONARD COHEN. The cover album, titled Varshons, will be out June 23rd. Check out The End’s press release on the signing here.

Lawrence, Kansas’ ORION have their influences down pat on 10011011, a four song EP strongly in the vein of HUM, FAILURE, and latter HOPESFALL. The band specializes in spacey, melodic, buzzy guitar rock with a thick wall of sound, and droning, even-keeled lead vocals. The plodding, methodical nature of the songwriting is its strength, as [...]

No Sleep Records has quietly and quickly built a roster full of diverse bands. They started out strong in 2007 with a progressive rock release from the incredibly promising SMALL LEAKS SINK SHIPS. Since that time, though, the ‘SHIPS plus a few other bands the label invested in haven’t done much on the national scene. [...]

THE CLUES have publicity on their side, even if they choose to avoid it. They don’t have a MySpace page – OMG, LMFAO!!! – and they are actually playing shows in support of their upcoming album, a move NPR calls a “Grass Roots Approach” to building a fan-base. The band avoids the internet, and it’s considered a newsworthy act; the times they are a’ changing, indeed. While THE CLUES are turning their Montreal noses up at social networking sites, NPR’s is promoting their new song, “Remember Severed Head;” who needs Myspace when you’re being plugged by National Public Radio. The band contains Brendan Reed from THE ARCADE FIRE and Alden Penner from a defunct band called UNICORN. and it’s pretty rad. You can check the write-up and the song here.