From the inbox:

Boston’s pop-punk quintet A LOSS FOR WORDS have announced their Paper + Plastick Records debut will be an as-yet-untitled Motown covers album on May 11th. In the label’s typical fashion, the album will be available digitally through the Paper + Plastick webstore, and physically on vinyl and CD.

“Our band listens to anything from American Nightmare to Coldplay to New Found Glory, and everything in between,” says vocalist Matty Arsenault. “I grew up listening to R&B and have always wanted to do something like this! We just felt it was the perfect time to try something new and have some fun with it. We’re very excited for everyone to hear us spice up some classic R&B hits!”

A Loss For Words recorded the 10-song cover album with Chris Curran at Webster Lake Studios in Boston, and reworked classic R&B and Motown songs from the Jackson 5, Four Tops, Marvin Gaye and more. A full tracklisting will be revealed shortly. As a teaser for the upcoming album, the band has been performing select covers on the road, including their acoustic take on The Temptations’ “My Girl,” which can be seen here. The album version is a pop-punk gem and features additional vocals from Jordan Brown of Set Your Goals, while fellow Boston-ites Dan O’Connor and Alan Day of Four Year Strong make a vocal appearance on the Jackson 5 track.

- Does this derail the potential of a Fearless compilation, “Punk Goes Motown?” Notably, this will be the first US full-length release for the hyperactive band. Last year’s impressive pop-punk/hardcore release, The Kids Can’t Lose, was put out by Japan’s In-And-Out Records. Photo by Lisa Richov, via the band’s MySpace page.

Yesterday I mentioned this on Twitter, but sometimes 140 characters doesn’t always tell the story. After approximately 15 years of willful ignorance, I gave up my personal listening embargo to BAD RELIGION’s elusive/controversial 1983 release, Into the Unknown. For the longest time, I reasoned with myself that if the band (that I have admired so much) was so embarrassed or uninterested in even acknowledging its existence, then I should honor that the same.

From a practical standpoint, this was easy to do, as before the days of mp3 blogs or P2P sites, or what have you, finding a physical copy of the record was no easy task. But over the past couple of years, its presence online was a common taunt; you know you wanna listen… just click the damn Mediafire link you idiot. One of the rumors that I’ve read the most is that Brett Gurewitz buys up all of the copies of Into The Unknown that show up on eBay and destroys them. Could that be true? Could the musical hate run so deep?

And so I caved, clicked a link, and slotted it neatly into my Bad Religion iTunes playlist – this missing piece, now at home among classics (and a few regrets). The first thing that struck me was that despite its reputation as some kind of grand progressive rock opus, it really wasn’t all that different than How Could Hell Be Any Worse, or the subsequent ‘return to form’ release Back to the Known. If I had to sum it up in just a few words, it’s “slower, with more piano and guitar wankery.” I would still consider “Billy Gnosis,” and “Losing Generation” punk rock songs, despite other musical ingredients and songwriting design. Perhaps the biggest fault with it is that it captures virtually none of the rabid energy that fuels the band’s earliest recordings.

After a few on-repeat listens, I think I’ve had my fill. It wasn’t worth the 15 year abstention. I hope that one day Greg, Brett and company come around on keeping Into the Unknown out of sight (which really is ironic for a release with a song titled “Time and Disregard”). Give it a remastering and send it off as a digital download in iTunes, eMusic, etc. After all, it’s “Only Entertainment.”

KILLSWITCH ENGAGE’s new tune, “My Obsession” is currently being featured on Noisecreep. The tune is from a soundtrack EP titled “God of War: Blood & Metal,” in support  the video game of “God of War III.” Other bands on the EP include TRIVIUM, OPETH, DREAM THEATER, TAKING DAWN. Shockhound (I really can’t help but roll my eyes when typing out that name… it truly sounds like something from a Simpsons episode mocking product development/market research companies) has the digital EP up for pre-order for $1.99. The EP is being released by Roadrunner.

It’s head-bang Friday at Pastepunk HQ… too bad I have a mere fuzz of hair to ‘bang’. It’s definitely not a problem for the fellas in LAZARUS A.D. I highly recommend their newish full-length The Onslaught (Metal Blade).

Buzzgrinder is reporting that Louisville hardcore/metal staples COLISEUM have chosen to work with Temporary Residence for their next full-length. It will be the follow-up to the band’s 2007 Relapse offering, No Salvation. An album title and release date have yet to be announced.

Substantial upgrades are in progress on Suburban Home Records’ website. Included in that is a drastically improved Listening Station with full-length streams of virtually everything in the label’s hefty catalog. The featured item right now is the re-release of MICAH SCHNABEL’s album When The Stage Lights Go Dim. Schnabel, of course, is the frontman for the addictive Ohio rock band TWO COW GARAGE. Other new album streams come from TIM BARRY, DRAG THE RIVER, LIZZIE HUFFMAN AND HER BROTHER BAND, and CHAD PRICE, among others.

As I was one of out of a reported 75,000 people who logged on to stream live ANDREW W.K. “Town Hall” Q&A on Tuesday, 2/23, I couldn’t help but smile throughout the whole thing and marvel at the extremely well put together comedic/entertainment event unfolding. A citizen reporter for the Huffington Post apparently took the same perspective to the event as well, noting “Ask Andrew W.K. Anything almost felt like an inside joke. Striking a note of high comedy for those on the inside, it infuriated those left out.”

Where does all of the AWK ‘controversy’ go from here? We’ll have a better idea after the release of Close Calls With Brick Walls/Mother of Mankind, in Mid-March, and after the full-band AWK on this year’s Warped Tour. Until then, be prepared for more well-orchestrated AWK publicity theater…

I’ve been working on a Top 100 Albums of the 2000s for a particular music publication and in doing so, I’ve come across a lot of “1999 near misses.” One of these items is AS FRIENDS RUST’s S/T EP (the altered Doghouse version of the European release God Hour on Goodlife). Admittedly, I like much of the band’s later work more than this, but I remember when this release came out, during the height of the late 90s youth-crew hardcore revival and in the midst of emo’s wind-down/pop-transition period. It was as big of a hybrid genre smasher as you could find. Two songs from the EP are committed to memory, opener “Half Friend Town,” and the ragin’ “Coffee Black.” Being the always-caffeinated person that I am, I’ve opted to plug the latter one today. Enjoy.