TAKING BACK SUNDAY recently announced the reformation of their Tell All Your Friends era line-up, replacing long-time bassist Matt Rubano with original slap-master Shaun Cooper and fresh singer/guitarist Matthew Fazzi with founding member John Nolan. Thoughts on what this all means, in context and out, after the jump…

Considering all of the quality colleges located in North Carolina, it’s a wonder this Charlotte-based quintet went with the band name HARVARD. Why not WAKE FOREST, DUKE, or CHAPEL HILL? I guess they were going for the best of the best, and surely “Harvard” would indicate such. Well, if Harvard University were to exist as [...]

The guys of AS TALL AS LIONS have posted their new full-length, You Can’t Take It With You, in its entirety at their MySpace. The disc officially releases on August 18th.

Former Vagrant artists THE BLED have become the second seasoned band in the last month to sign with Rise Records, following an early action made by BLEEDING THROUGH. The band is currently in their home state of Arizona recording a new album which will be released in early 2010. Judging a recent promo photo, it looks like the guys have added several new members to the consistent core of guitarist Jeremy Talley and vocalist James Muñoz.

- This along with the signing of BLEEDING THROUGH marks a departure from Rise’s usual reputation for signing unknown bands and guiding them to moderate levels of success in the genre. Kudos to the label for establishing some stability in this market, at least enough so to grab onto some veteran hardcore/metal bands desperately seeking a second or third chance.

Suburban Home Records announced today the signing of Florida’s LOOK MEXICO. The two will pair up to release the quintet’s follow-up to 2007′s This Is Animal Music. The official announcement from the Suburban Home camp is below.

Today, I am excited to announce to the world that we have just “signed” Look Mexico. The Tallahassee, Floridians started writing music in mid 2004 having released a full length (”This is Animal Music”), a collection album (”The Crucial Collection”), and a number of EPs including a song on the first ever Under the Influence 7″ with Fake Problems and one of my favorite 7″s of 2009, the Gasp Asp EP. We became fans of the band when we first spun “This is Animal Music” and was absolutely delighted that Fake Problems wanted to do their Under the Influence with them. We later met the band at the past year’s Fest and have since been discussing the possibility of us working together. It is important for us to be able to get along with our bands, maybe even more important than any other factor, and Look Mexico are family. I realized it when the band were in Denver (while on tour with Frank Turner) as we shared more than a few drinks together, up front singing along to Frank Turner’s set. Musically, Look Mexico are one of the few bands that everyone in our office enjoys. Their sound recalls, at least to me, early Minus the Bear mixed with some Get up Kids, 2 bands I absolutely love. They mix melody and technical precision in a way that just grabs us.

The band are currently recording what will become their Suburban Home Records’ debut. They will again be working with Phil Martin and August Hansen who will be engineering and producing the recording out of a rented out basement (underneath a pizza joint). We hope to release the album in the Fall of 2009 with a 7″ single prior to the album’s release. Expect the band to tour like crazy throughout the UK, Europe, Japan, Canada, and the United States after the release of their new albu. Stay tuned for further details and know that we here at Suburban Home are absolutely positively excited to be able to work with such a talented band.

In celebration of the signing, the band has unleashed two new demos at their MySpace page. You can also read the band’s thoughts on the signing at their blogspot page.

- This is a major coup for Suburban Home. One of the best young bands out there today!

The dudes in EMERY have been releasing music at a rapid pace since they debuted in 2004 with The Weak’s End. Back then they mostly made a living off decidedly catchy rock songs that balanced really good singing with razor sharp screaming. They continued to subscribe to this formula on 2005′s The Question, although I [...]

New York’s AS TALL AS LIONS have announced details for the long-awaited follow-up to 2006′s self-titled effort. The disc is titled You Can’t Take It With You and is slated for an August 18th release date from East West. The band plans to support the album with a US tour in August alongside DREDG and RX BANDITS.

Up until a few days ago, the only thing I knew about Provo, Utah was that it was home to Brigham Young University which produced my favorite quarterback on Madden 1995, the scramblin’ Steve Young. And then I was told to check out a band from the esteemed city by the name of SHARK SPEED. [...]