Muse and My Chemical Romance have been involved in a death threat scandal after they were forced to cancel several tour dates.
The dates were cancelled after members of the tour crew became violently ill after a gig at the end of last month and has now been established they suffered from salmonella poisoning.
The death threats came through to Glenn Gormley, who owns Green Leafe Café, as he is being blamed by the fans for the incident.
Another day, another Pete Doherty story – this time about him selling paintings he’s done in his own blood.
The singer will exhibit his work in the Bloodworks collection at the Bankrobber Gallery in London for a month from May 15th. The show will feature 14 original paintings and prints that he created using pen, pencil and his own blood, reports say.
Prints of his work signed in his blood are expected to be sold for up to £2,500.
Unearth have decided to continue as a group without drummer Mike Justain.
The band said they didn’t want to air “dirty laundry” but said that the split occurred due to them growing “apart as individuals and as musicians”.
The statement went on to say that they wish him luck and are sure he’ll appear in another band soon. Filling in on their current tour with Dimmu Borgir, Kataklysm and Devil Driver will be Gene Hoglan of Strapping Young Lad.
Flicking through the mainstream press can be a rather dispiriting experience when you’re confronted by page after page of so-called ‘hardcore’ bands with suspiciously elaborate haircuts, so be thankful that bands like Pulling Teeth exist; guaranteed as they are to restore your faith in the genre.
Packing eleven tracks into just under fifteen minutes, the band’s ‘Vicious Skin‘ debut is a refreshingly unpretentious and brutal slice of crossover thrash-core, which should have fans of DRI, early Suicidal Tendencies and Municipal Waste wetting themselves with delight. Make no mistake: this is first and foremost a hardcore record with metal influences, as opposed to yet another tired exercise in the omnipresent metalcore sound.
There have plenty of brains mixed in with the musical brawn, too. ‘Prepare For The Worst‘ is a damning indictment of the human race’s selfish nature, whilst ‘Weapons Of Mosh Destruction‘ sees vocalist Mike Riley taking pit-Nazis to task as he howls “The only way you can compensate/Is by pounding on kids half your weight”. So listen up, all you idiotic Kung-Fu amateur types.
Check out ‘Heretic’ on the link above.
Alex Gosman
I can’t really say I’m a massive fan of all these new indie-pop bands popping up every other day, but Good Shoes debut album Think Before You Speak is making me change my mind about the ‘latest sensation’. I have to admit, I went to see them play recently, and due to my booze intake and the size of the venue, I kind of missed their set. I heard them though, and was quite impressed.
Think Before You Speak combines the sounds of the new Thamesbeat scene- a mix of upbeat technical guitar pop and intelligent lyrics- and musical influences from modern bands like The Futureheads, all the way back to indie pioneers like Gang Of Four, The Jam and Buzzcocks. They have clearly drawn on The Futureheads start-stop sound and style, helped along by vocalist Rhys Jones’ singing and witty analysis of people and places.
Stand-out tracks on the album are Nazanin, a simple yet very confessional look at Jones’ self, as well as the paranoia-driven anthem of All In My Head. But I always think the best songs are those written about where you grew up. Morden regales the bands hometown and how, although it should be a nice leafy suburb town in South West London, it is actually a shit-hole full of skinheads, drug dealers, and alcoholics singing 80’s pop whilst stumbling out the pub.
I’m always worried when a new band appears that sound very similar to everything else that’s around right now. It seems far too easy just to disappear if you don’t make a good first album. Good Shoes have managed to produce a very good, well-rounded first album, and sure to be around for while to come.
Tim Mogridge
TrocaBrahma, the collaboration of UK and Brazilian artists, will be coming to the UK in July.
Taking place in London, Liverpool and Glasgow from July 26th – 29th, the festival is part of an exchange programme that brings UK to artists to Brazil to collaborate with Brazilian artists who them perform the material back in the UK.
The artists involved are Os Mutantes, JD Twitch, Bonde Do Role, Radioclit, Gruff Rhys, Tony da Gatorra, Four Tet, Open Field Church, King Creosote, Romulo Froes, Ben Westbeech, Tita Lima, Diplo and Amanda Blank.
Expect big reviews of the event, providing Abjekt can stop himself from fainting at the sight of Amanda Blank.
Blue Scholars have posted up a teaser video for their upcoming album Bayani, which is out on Rawkus this year. Pimp it below:
Legendary Californian punk rockers Social Distortion will release a Greatest Hits compilation through Epitaph Records on June 25th.
Along with classic Social Distortion cuts such as ‘Mommy’s Little Monster’, ‘Story Of My Life’ and their cover of Johnny Cash’s ‘Ring Of Fire’, the record will feature the brand new song (and future single) ‘Far Behind‘.
Mike Ness and co are currently planning a worldwide tour to support the album, and are also working on a new studio album – the follow-up to 2004’s ‘Sex, Love And Rock & Roll’.The full tracklisting is as follows:
1. Another State Of Mind
2. Mommy’s Little Monster
3. Prison Bound
4. Story Of My Life
5. Ball And Chain
6. Ring Of Fire
7. Bad Luck
8. When The Angels Sing
9. I Was Wrong
10. Reach For The Sky
11. Far Behind (new song)
12. 1945 (13th Floor) – Europe only bonus track
Check www.socialdistortion.com for more info.
There’s no shortage of activity in the Side One Dummy Records camp these days.
Both ska-punk stalwarts Big D And The Kids Table and anthemic street punks the Street Dogs scheduled to tour the UK later this month. Big D’s dates are as follows:
May:
18th Swindon The Furnace
19th Exeter The Hub
20th Manchester Satans Hollow
21st Newcastle The Venue
22nd Leeds Venue Tbc
23rd Derby The Vic Inn
24th Southampton Joiners
25th London Underworld
26th Kingston The Peel
Whilst the Street Dogs will hit:
May:
25th Newcastle Academy 2
26th Birmingham Academy
27th Bristol Academy 2
28th London Islington Academy
29th Sheffield Corporation
30th Leeds Joseph Wells
31st Glasgow King Tuts
New albums are also forthcoming from former Hot Water Music singer/guitarist Chuck Ragan (a live recording of a solo show entitled ‘Los Feliz’) and the 2007 Vans Warped Tour compilation (featuring more than 50 tracks over two CDs).
Check www.sideonedummy.com for more info.
Following the release of their new album ‘Legend Of The World‘ on Volcom, US psychedelic rockers Valient Thorr are set to visit Europe for the first time as main support to the legendary Fu Manchu. UK dates are as follows:
May:
26th Nottingham Rock City
27th Glasgow Cathouse
28th Belfast Limelight
30th Wolverhampton Little Civic
31st Wolverhampton Little Civic
June:
1st Leeds Rio’s
2nd London Underworld
3rd Southampton Nexus
They will also support Turbonegro at London’s Islington Academy on June 7th.
Check www.valientthorr.com for more info.