About.com Punk Music

Fuel For Humanity has guitar lessons with Television's Richard Lloyd for auction

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:26:11 +0000

I got an email from Jerid O'Connell, the original drummer from the New York band the Rousers, about an auction for charity online.

Among the items for auction (which includes sports memorabilia, designer goods and bits of luxury) are some nice bits of musical history, most notably a 1981 7" from the Rousers (produced by Wayne Kramer of the MC5) and two guitar lessons with punk legend Richard Lloyd of Television.

All of the proceeds go to benefit Fuel for Humanity, a nonprofit corporation that provides opportunities for young people through technology and education. Currently, Fuel for Humanity maintains a classroom in Nicaragua that offers computer studies and digital photography classes, and funds college scholarships for its graduates. They want to continue to expand and help those in need, and this auction will help fund these efforts.

You can view all the items for auction here.

Fuel For Humanity has guitar lessons with Television's Richard Lloyd for auction originally appeared on About.com Punk Music on Friday, November 20th, 2009 at 10:26:11.

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Are Alkaline Trio Getting Punk Rock Again? That's what they're saying...

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 12:38:55 +0000

I remember when I first heard the song "Cooking Wine" by Alkaline Trio. It was back in the '90s, and it was one of those songs that really forced you to reevaluate the way you listened to music. Abusive, grating guitar lines that truly shredded combined with smart, emotional songwriting - it was true musical mastery.

My infatuation with this band continued with their groundbreaking first full-length Goddamnit and again with Maybe I'll Catch Fire (one of the best albums of the past 10 years). I caught them whenever they came to town, which was fortunately often due to the relatively short distance between Chicago and Detroit. Eventually, though, I lost interest.

What happened? Alkaline Trio seemed to change what they were about, drifting from label to label and drifting away from their original raw, emotional sound. Instead, they seemed to become a self-parody of themselves that catered to 14-year-old girls with mediocre songs and a melodramatic image.

I saw them a few months ago, and aside from three old songs interspersed throughout their set, I was unmoved and unimpressed.

Hopefully that's about to change. Read more...

Are Alkaline Trio Getting Punk Rock Again? That's what they're saying... originally appeared on About.com Punk Music on Wednesday, November 18th, 2009 at 12:38:55.

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Fall Out Boy is just taking a break. They promise.

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 08:05:22 +0000

Fall Out Boy drummer Andy Hurley announced on his Twitter feed that the band is officially on hiatus. It's official.

But it's not permanent.

Apparently, when the kids love you, you can't announce that you're taking a break without facing a deluge of emotional responses demanding to know if it's permanent, or how long it will be for, or if hiatus means the band has broken up.

Hurley seems to be doing damage control right now, reassuring the distraught masses that Fall Out Boy is not gone forever with clarifications like these:

i said we are on break. and that we are coming back, hopefully sooner than later

ive already clarified this. but we are just taking a tiny little break and coming back stronger than ever.

and we have said that we are on a break. that is all we have said. sorry i was unclear somehow. didnt mean to be

not broken up. jesus christ. we're taking a break. coming back, sooner than later hopefully

So everyone just relax while Hurley records and tours with his hardcore band Burning Empires, and know that yes, Fall Out Boy will be back.

Photo � Stephen Shugerman/Getty Images

Fall Out Boy is just taking a break. They promise. originally appeared on About.com Punk Music on Tuesday, November 17th, 2009 at 08:05:22.

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Dillinger Escape Plan Announces New Album and Tour Dates

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 12:28:40 +0000

An intense band known for an even more intense (intenser?) live act, The Dillinger Escape Plan have announced that they've recently finished the recording their album, Option Paralysis and will be releasing it as the debut release for their label Party Smasher Inc/Season of Mist. The album will be officially available on March 23, 2010.

During the production of the album, the band has been releasing updates and musical snippets on their MySpace site, so you can get a feeling of what you're in for.

The band will also be taking their act on the road in December, giving fans a preview of what they can expect on the new release.

If you've not been to a Dillinger show before, this isn't one to miss, and you're going to need to keep your eyes on the stage at all times in order to ensure maximum enjoyment, and safety, as events like this performance at the Virgin Megastore in 2005 are the rule at a Dillinger show, not the exception.

Tour dates are listed below. Read more...

Dillinger Escape Plan Announces New Album and Tour Dates originally appeared on About.com Punk Music on Monday, November 16th, 2009 at 12:28:40.

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Forever The Sickest Kids to Play NFL Halftime Show on Thanksgiving - Yep, you read that right.

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 08:06:39 +0000

In addition to being a music town, here in Detroit we're also known as a sports town. Most specifically we're Hockeytown, but it's a little known fact that we have a football team, too.

That team is known as the Lions, and they have a few traditions. One is that they're awful, and the other is that they always play at home on Thanksgiving Day.

Typically, I plead indifference on this, not being a football fan, but this year, Detroit's sports tradition will merge with its music tradition at halftime, when artists currently signed to Universal-Motown will pay tribute to the Detroit-born record company's 50th anniversary.

The interesting thing is that included in the roster of acts is Forever the Sickest Kids and they'll all be playing classic Motown tunes (Kem, Melanie Fiona, Shontelle, and Hal Linton are the others).

Forever the Sickest Kids playing Motown at an NFL halftime show? This is either going to be amazing or horrendously bad. Either way, it needs to be done.

If you're preoccupied with familial obligations that day, the performance will be available for download later on NFL.com.

Photo by Sara Kiesling

Forever The Sickest Kids to Play NFL Halftime Show on Thanksgiving - Yep, you read that right. originally appeared on About.com Punk Music on Thursday, November 12th, 2009 at 08:06:39.

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Tour Dates: Dashboard Confessional and New Found Glory Acoustic

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:37:29 +0000

Dashboard Confessional frontman Chris Carrabba has announced a string of acoustic dates with New Found Glory.

On his Myspace site, Carrabba posted:

On November 30th, John and I will grab our guitars and hit the road. Our friends in New Found Glory will be coming with us and they'll leave the electric instruments at home. That's right....NFG acoustic.

Tickets are on sale now, and can be purchased here.

Tour dates are listed below. Read more...

Tour Dates: Dashboard Confessional and New Found Glory Acoustic originally appeared on About.com Punk Music on Wednesday, November 11th, 2009 at 15:37:29.

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Pennywise is still looking for a new frontman... or are they?

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:33:45 +0000

According to the site for the band's tour management, Pennywise has delayed their tour until Spring 2010. This isn't really surprising; what is surprising is that the site has also revealed that the band is currently working on a new release.

In a short, somewhat cryptic message, Destiny Tourbooking simply states:

PENNYWISE TOUR

band is working on a new release so
Has been moved till Spring 2010
all dates should be up again soon

Does this mean the band has found a new singer to replace Jim Lindberg, who announced he was leaving back in August? Is it Ignite's Zoli Teglas, who stepped in as a temporary replacement in September? Or will it be somebody else entirely new?

The answer remains to be seen, but we're going to be watching this story for sure.

Pennywise is still looking for a new frontman... or are they? originally appeared on About.com Punk Music on Tuesday, November 10th, 2009 at 17:33:45.

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RIP - Jerry Fuchs, 1974�2009

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 12:41:28 +0000

Jerry Fuchs, the drummer for a pile of indie-rock and dance-punk outfits died tragically in a fall down an elevator shaft early Sunday morning. He was 34.

According to the New York Times, Fuchs had attended a benefit party in an industrial building in Brooklyn when he got stuck on a freight elevator between the building's fourth and fifth floors. While attempting to jump out of the car, his jacket got caught and he fell to the bottom of the shaft.

Over the years, Fuchs has played for a wide range of bands, including the instrumental rock band Turing Machine, the dance-punk outfit The Juan MacLean and most recently with Maserati, but I'll always know his work best from his time with !!! (pronounced "chk, chk, chk") on their album Myth Takes.

Fuchs was one of those drummers that was like a human metronome, and on Myth Takes (and indeed with his other work) he laid down beats that were sometimes huge, sometimes funky and always very tight. Even when he was playing big monster drum fills it was never sloppy, and his rhythms were always as tight as if they'd been performed by a drum machine, without the fakeness of one.

On his Web site, The Juan MacLean frontman John Maclean had this to say:

Jerry was one of my best and most loyal friends. He was hands-down the best drummer I have ever played with or seen for that matter. Jerry was with me from the start of The Juan MacLean, and we had countless adventures together all over the world. He was utterly sincere and fiercely loyal. During a particularly difficult time, while backstage in a club in Chicago, Jerry told me "Juan, I will follow you to the end of the earth and I will always be there for you." That was Jerry, the greatest drummer in the world, the greatest friend you could ever have.

We'd like to extend our condolences to his friends, family and bandmates over this tragic event.

Photo � Mike White, Courtesy of Maserati

RIP - Jerry Fuchs, 1974�2009 originally appeared on About.com Punk Music on Monday, November 9th, 2009 at 12:41:28.

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Free MP3s: Folk Covers of Punk Classics

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:06:48 +0000

I love punk covers. There's nothing like when a band takes a well-known song and subjects it to their whims, forcing it to be something other than the original writer intended it. Whether it's better, worse, funny or thought provoking, I really am a sucker for them.

Rarely, it goes in the other direction, as in the case of this list compiled by Boyhowdy at Cover Lay Down. The music blogger has assembled a list of Music MP3s by folk artists, doing covers of punk classics.

You're sure to find immediate favorites in this list of revised classics. I know I did with Frank Turner's cover of Bad Brains' "Pay to Come," The Indigo Girls' take on the Clash's "Clampdown" and Allo, Darlin's cover of "I Wanna Be Sedated."

But don't take my word for it, go here and download them yourselves.

Free MP3s: Folk Covers of Punk Classics originally appeared on About.com Punk Music on Friday, November 6th, 2009 at 15:06:48.

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PacSun Announces In-store Schedule for the 2009 PacTour

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:57:56 +0000

A few weeks ago, clothing Store PacSun announced the lineup and dates for the 2009 PacTour, with Saosin, P.O.S., Innerpartysystem, and Eye Alaska.

As part of the tour, PacSun stores near each tour stop will play host to PacTour bands each day of the tour for free in-store acoustic and meet and greet sessions. They've now released the schedule for these in-store performances, as well as who'll be playing in each town.

The performances are scheduled to start at 3:30pm on each date. Check with your local PacSun store for more details.

Dates are listed below. Read more...

PacSun Announces In-store Schedule for the 2009 PacTour originally appeared on About.com Punk Music on Wednesday, November 4th, 2009 at 17:57:56.

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