Via MySpace:

In anticipation of their upcoming tour, we (Kiss of Death Records) are posting the entire NO FRIENDS Traditional Failures EP for free download. The records should be arriving from the pressing plant any day now, and will be available on a one-sided 12″. We will also be releasing a high quality (320 kbps) mp3 version for super cheap. The band featuring Tony Foresta (Municipal Waste), Sam Johnson (NMDS, VRGNS), Richard “Horsebites” Minino (NMDS, Gatorface, None More Black), and myself (Alex Goldfarb)(NMDS, Gatorface, VRGNS). We will be embarking on an east coast tour at the end of next week.  Download the record for free here!

From the inbox:

Warbird Entertainment proudly presents yet another addition to the label’s growing family. We are proud to be working with Cleveland, Ohio’s hardcore punk rock act AMERICAN WEREWOLVES! The new album Wanderers Forever is set to be released later this spring! Stay tuned for further info and details on the record.

After its initial release in December 2009 as a vinyl/digital only effort, BLACKLISTED’s dramatic fourth full-length, No One Deserves to Be Here More Than Me will finally be available on CD, and with three bonus songs to boot! The bonus material includes two of the four songs from the Eccentrichnine EP, and an unreleased interlude piece from the original recording session. Look for it in stores on April 13th.

From the inbox:

Cincinnati’s power pop punk trio THE DOPAMINES recently crashed in Gainesville, FL after their performance at THE FEST 8 to record an album with Roger Lima from Less Than Jake and Matt Yonker from Teen Idols/The Queers at Roger’s Moat House Studios. The recording was passed along to Paper + Plastick owner/ Less Than Jake drummer Vinnie Fiorello. The album was then passed on to Stephen Egerton (Decendents/ALL) for mixing.

The final product, entitled Expect The Worst, will be released by Paper + Plastick in late June on LP/Digital download.

To celebrate the union and the band currently being on tour, Paper + Plastick have leaked a stream of “Public Domain” from the album. Head over to paperandplastick.com to hear the song on their label player.

- Another new song, “You’d Make A Good Horse Cop” (love, loooooooove the title) is crankin’ on their MySpace page. Super great band.

Veteran Pennsylvania punk/hardcore label Jump Start Records has decided to make a significant amount of their catalog available for free download (donations encouraged). Bands included are LIGHTEN UP, ASTAPI, JENA BERLIN, GIVING CHASE, ONE WIN CHOICE, and a bunch more. Check out it here.

1. THE BIGGER LIGHTS – S/T (Doghouse): Signing crafy pop-rock bands hasn’t been much of a problem for Doghouse since the success of the ALL-AMERICAN REJECTS. The latest troupe to get ‘the big push’ is this five-piece from my area of Fairfax, Virginia. Breezy, hooky, and polished to a fine gleam, there’s no doubt what this record is all about. I don’t know if I’d be able to pick out the band’s sound without some assistance, but hey, that’s why the radio tries to pound songs into the ground with limited playlists. Good luck chasing those bigger lights…

2. NO REGIME – S/T EP (Self-Released): In contrast of the above, NO REGIME is three piece punk rock band from Los Angeles that sounds like it needs to spend some more time honing their craft in the garage. Influenced by bands like BAD RELIGION and FACE TO FACE, the band’s engine is tuned for fast, melodic music played with the galloping steam of a charging rhino. The youth of the band comes out in the simplicity of the songwriting and the uneven vocals of Jake Yoshizaki. The EP is a free download on their MySpace page.

3. THE PACK a.d. – We Kill Computers (Mint): Razor sharp post-punk from this female duo. No bass? No problem. This full-length is all about mood – the press quotes all toss around the terms bluesy, soulful, raw, and I get all of that. I’ll add in ‘artfully restrained’ music with oddly tuneful, hard-to-ignore lead vocals. Is a WHITE STRIPES comparison too easy to make? A bit, but I’ve had a hard time getting this band out of my head.

4. THE PLAGUE – You’ll Forget The Other EP (I For Us / Don’t Trust The Hype): With a band name like THE PLAGUE, one might expect some crusty streetpunk, but this French outfit is closer to furious metallic hardcore in the nature of GIVE UP THE GHOST or their countrymen in (the very underrated band) NINE ELEVEN. Creative songwriting and great vocal/rhythm section dynamics will keep your attention, but it can be a chore with most songs running for nearly four minutes. Very promising debut.

Texas hardcore band THIN ICE have posted a brand new cover of TRIAL’s monolithic song “Reflections” (the first song from their full-length Are These Our Lives?). The original is beyond great, and the cover is impressive too. Check it out on the band’s MySpace page.

- Speaking of hardcore covers, anyone know of a good take on BATTERY’s “Until The End”? Wasn’t a BATTERY tribute compilation supposed to come out some time ago?

As a person more well-versed in positive hardcore than so-called ‘hatecore’, rough-cut bands like BULLDOG COURAGE have always been a struggle for me to engage. SHEER TERROR and BLOOD FOR BLOOD arguably set the modern standards for this type of music, though concerning the latter, I found Rob Lind’s music in RAMALLAH to be far [...]