Video Store Blues

The Specials once again are on the radar, well, not really on that big of a radar, but last night they played “A Message To You Rudy” on Late Night w/ Jimmy Fallon.

Refused put out one of the best hardcore punk records of all time when they released “The Shape of Punk to Come”. I was floored when the record came out, and I loved their music video for “New Noise”. If you haven’t seen that, or haven’t heard Refused, you don’t know what music is, and you most likely are a complete ignorant baffoon.

Well, it’s been a while, and Refused is getting the special red carpet treatment through Epitaph records. They are re-releasing “The Shape of Punk to Come” in a limited edition Double LP set and a Three DISC set with special bonus disc and dvd!

You’re going to be floored too when you see all the stuff that is coming out with this set. You can pre-order it now, so don’t sleep on this amazing box set.

All refused fans are going to love this special three disc box set re-release of the Shape of Punk To Come. You can’t go wrong. Don’t download it, buy it, and hopefully they will do a full length tour to boot.

The Shape of Punk To Come (Deluxe Edition) CD Tracklisting:

Disc 1: CD Track Listing

1. Worms of the Senses / Faculties of the Skull – 7:05
2. Liberation Frequency – 4:08
3. The Deadly Rhythm – 3:34
4. Summerholidays Vs. Punkroutine – 4:01
5. Bruitist Pome #5 – 1:25
6. New Noise – 5:08
7. The Refused Party Program – 2:38
8. Protest Song ‘68 – 4:32
9. Refused Are Fucking Dead – 5:08
10. The Shape of Punk to Come – 5:31
11. Tannhäuser / Derivè – 8:07
12. The Apollo Programme Was a Hoax – 4:13

Disc 2: “Live” Bonus Disc Track Listing

1. Shape Of Punk To Come - 4:38
2. Refused Party Program - 1:28
3. Circle Pit - 2:48
4. Worms Of The Senses / Faculties Of The Skull - 5:31
5. Hook, Line And Sinker - 2:51
6. Summer Holidays vs. Punk Routine - 3:54
7. Rather Be Dead - 3:42
8. Burn It - 2:33
9. The Deadly Rythm - 4:05
10. Coup d’Etat - 5:10
11. New Noise - 4:48
12. Tannhäuser - 7:30

Disc 3: “Refused Are Fucking Dead” DVD

The Shape of Punk To Come (Deluxe Edition) Digital Tracklisting:

1. Worms of the Senses / Faculties of the Skull – 7:05
2. Liberation Frequency – 4:08
3. The Deadly Rhythm – 3:34
4. Summerholidays Vs. Punkroutine – 4:01
5. Bruitist Pome #5 – 1:25
6. New Noise – 5:08
7. The Refused Party Program – 2:38
8. Protest Song ‘68 – 4:32
9. Refused Are Fucking Dead – 5:08
10. The Shape of Punk to Come – 5:31
11. Tannhäuser / Derivè – 8:07
12. The Apollo Programme Was a Hoax – 4:13
13. Shape Of Punk To Come (live) - 4:38
14. Refused Party Program (live) - 1:28
15. Circle Pit (live) - 2:48
16. Worms Of The Senses / Faculties Of The Skull (live) - 5:31
17. Hook, Line And Sinker (live) - 2:51
18. Summer Holidays vs. Punk Routine (live) - 3:54
19. Rather Be Dead (live) - 3:42
20. Burn It (live) - 2:33
21. The Deadly Rythm (live) - 4:05
22. Coup d’Etat (live) - 5:10
23. New Noise (live) - 4:48
24. Tannhäuser (live) - 7:30

H2O is one of my favorite bands of all time. They came out with this record on Bridge 9 Records and they put out these two amazing videos, and it features anyone who’s anyone in pop punk, hardcore, and wrestling (CM PUNK). Nothing to Prove and What Happened have deep rooted messages that I for one am 100% behind. I have nothing to prove and what did happen to the music and the message that I loved?

I grew up in an era, or maybe it was a location, where you couldn’t admit to liking pop-punk. I had to hide my fondness for bands like mxpx, new found glory, and even blink 182. However, I’m far removed from that place and time and here I am talking about another pop-punk band. Well, these guys are more pop-core as is the latest trend in mixing sensible singing, screaming, a few hints of break down, and a melodic chorus of appreciation.

Four Year Strong comes out swinging big time with Enemy of the World, their major label album that has some amazing artwork and the classic, “few good songs, few bad songs” dilemma that comes with the pressure. I’m sure the band is proud of their work on the record, but I found only half the record worth mentioning…as with most major record debuts.

Four Year Strong Enemy of The World is out now, gets around 3 to 4 stars depending on what magazine you read and leaves me wishing for better days.

Missed Alkaline Trio on the Late Show with David Letterman? Don’t panic, here it is live and in your face suckas!

Alkaline Trio’s latest record is available by clicking here or looking below:

Every Time I Die threw up one of the best records of their career with their Epitaph release, New Junk Aesthetic, and are now on the road through August playing every single U.S. city (except Moscow Idaho, where I live) and promise to blow you away.

Here’s the latest video that they released, followed by extended tourdates to get you hyped!

Every Time I Die - “After One Quarter of a Revolution”

EVERY TIME I DIE | MySpace Music Videos

Every Time I Die Extended 2010 Tour Dates:

March 10 - Syracuse, NY - Lost Horizon (w/Four Year Strong, Polar Bear Club, Trapped Under Ice)
March 11 - Poughkeepsie, NY - The Chance (w/Four Year Strong, Polar Bear Club, Trapped Under Ice)
March 12 - Burlington, VT - Higher Ground (w/Four Year Strong, Polar Bear Club, Trapped Under Ice)
March 13 - Kinston, ON - Time To Laugh (w/Four Year Strong, Polar Bear Club, Trapped Under Ice)
March 14 - London, ON - Cowboys (w/Four Year Strong, Polar Bear Club, Trapped Under Ice)
March 15 - Kitchener, ON - Elements (w/Four Year Strong, Polar Bear Club, Trapped Under Ice)
March 16 - Grand Rapids, MI - The Intersection (w/Four Year Strong, Polar Bear Club, Trapped Under Ice)
March 17 - Iowa City, IA - Blue Moose (w/Four Year Strong, Polar Bear Club, Trapped Under Ice)
March 19 - Winnipeg, MB - The Garrick (w/Four Year Strong, Polar Bear Club, Trapped Under Ice)
March 20 - Regina, SK - Distrikt (w/Four Year Strong, Polar Bear Club, Trapped Under Ice)
March 21 - Calgary, AB - The Republik (w/Four Year Strong, Polar Bear Club, Trapped Under Ice)
March 22 - Edmonton, AB - The Starlite Room (w/Four Year Strong, Polar Bear Club, Trapped Under Ice)
March 24 - Vancouver, BC - Rickshaw Theatre (w/Four Year Strong, Polar Bear Club, Trapped Under Ice)
March 25 - Spokane, WA - The BLVD (w/Four Year Strong, Polar Bear Club, Trapped Under Ice)
March 26 - Boise, ID - The Venue (w/Four Year Strong, Polar Bear Club, Trapped Under Ice)
March 27 - Eugene, OR - WOW Hall (w/Four Year Strong, Polar Bear Club, Trapped Under Ice)
March 28 - Sacramento, CA - The Boardwalk (w/Four Year Strong, Polar Bear Club, Trapped Under Ice)
March 29 - Sparks, NV - New Oasis (w/Four Year Strong, Polar Bear Club, Trapped Under Ice)
March 30 - Las Vegas, NV - Area 702 Skatepark (w/Four Year Strong, Polar Bear Club, Trapped Under Ice)
March 31 - Tucson, AZ - The Rock (w/Four Year Strong, Polar Bear Club, Trapped Under Ice)
April 1 - Albuquerque, NM - Sunshine Theatre (w/Four Year Strong, Polar Bear Club, Trapped Under Ice)
April 2 - Lubbock, TX -Tequila Jungle (w/Four Year Strong, Polar Bear Club, Trapped Under Ice)
April 3 - Oklahoma City, OK - Diamond Ballroom (w/Four Year Strong, Polar Bear Club, Trapped Under Ice)
April 5 - Louisville, KY - Headliners (w/Four Year Strong, Polar Bear Club, Trapped Under Ice)
April 6 - Erie, PA - The Hangout (w/Four Year Strong, Polar Bear Club, Trapped Under Ice)
July 2 - Houston, TX - The Showgrounds (Warped Tour)
July 3 - Dallas, TX - Superpages.com Center (Warped Tour)
July 5 - St. Louis, MO - Verizon Wireless Amphitheater (Warped Tour)
July 6 - Indianapolis, IN - Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre (Warped Tour)
July 7 - Burgettstown, PA - Post Gazette Pavillion (Warped Tour)
July 8 - Cleveland, OH - Time Warner Cable Amphitheatre (Warped Tour)
July 9 - Toronto, ON - Arrow Hall (Warped Tour)
July 10 - Montreal, QC - Parc Jean Drapeau (Warped Tour)
July 11 - Hartford, CT - Comcast Theater (Warped Tour)
July 13 - Mansfield, MA - Comcast Center (Warped Tour)
July 14 - Darien Center, NY - Darien Lake P.A.C. (Warped Tour)
July 15 - Scranton, PA - Toyota Pavilion (Warped Tour)
July 16 - Camden, NJ - Susquehanna Bank Center (Warped Tour)
July 17 - Uniondale, NY - Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum (Warped Tour)
July 18 - Oceanport, NJ - Monmouth Park Racetrack (Warped Tour)
July 20 - Columbia, MD - Merriweather Post Pavilion (Warped Tour)
July 21 - Virginia Beach, VA - Virginia Beach Amphitheatre (Warped Tour)
July 22 - Charlotte, NC - Verizon Wireless Amphitheater Charlotte (Warped Tour)
July 23 - St. Petersburg, FL - Vinoy Park (Warped Tour)
July 24 - West Palm Beach, FL - Cruzan Amphitheater (Warped Tour)
July 25 - Orlando, FL - Central Florida Fairgrounds (Warped Tour)
July 26 - Atlanta, GA - Lakewood Amphitheater (Warped Tour)
July 28 - Cincinnati, OH - Riverbend Music Center (Warped Tour)
July 29 - Milwaukee, WI - Marcus Amphitheater (Warped Tour)
July 30 - Detroit, MI - Comerica Park (Warped Tour)
July 31 - Tinley Park, IL - First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre (Warped Tour)
Aug 1 - Shakopee, MI - Canterbury Park (Warped Tour)
Aug 2 - Bonner Springs, KS - Sandstone Amphitheatre (Warped Tour)
Aug 5 - Calgary, AB - Race City Speedway (Warped Tour)
Aug 7 - Salt Lake City, UT - Utah State Fairgrounds (Warped Tour)
Aug 8 - Denver, CO - Invesco Field (Warped Tour)
Aug 11 - Pomona, CA - Pomona Fairplex (Warped Tour)
Aug 12 - Marysville, CA - Sleep Train Amphitheatre (Warped Tour)
Aug 13 - Nampa, ID - Idaho Center Amphitheatre (Warped Tour)
Aug 14 - George, WA - Gorge Amphitheater (Warped Tour)
Aug 15 - Hillsboro, OR - Washington County Fairgrounds (Warped Tour)

I spent several years in Seattle, and there I got to know many dj’s and hip hop music fans that made me a believer in hip hop and many other musical outputs by local Seattle artists and beyond. So when I heard that there was a mash up group consisting of Chad Blinman and Trevor Keith (Face to Face) I was thrilled.

Legion of Doom is the mash up group and they formulate a world of music that you probably wouldn’t expect. The music sonically sounds like your traditional mash up of sounds and noises that create layered hip hop sonic booms while lyrics are spoken, rapped, and sung over it.

I know, I’ve reduced this to the most bare of terms, but these guys put forward a good sense of sounds and you’ll be hard pressed to find other records with the same type of urgency that is presented here.

The downside to this record is the fact that it’s a record you have to here in its entirety. Picking and choosing tracks won’t give you that sense of musical genius that Legion of Doom brings out this time around.

Legion of Doom vs The Triune is a great record in terms of mash ups. You’ll like it, if you like that sort of thing, and if not, there’s always the old Face to Face records to keep you company.

Converge have announced a headlining spring tour in support of 2009’s critically heralded masterpiece, Axe To Fall. In a grand kick off, the band has invited Thursday to join them on the road for the first week of the tour. Converge will be joined by supporting acts Coalesce, Harvey Milk, Gaza, Touche Amore, Lewd Acts and Black Breath

Converge Tour Dates:

Apr 30 - Philadelphia, PA - Trocadero (w/Thursday, Touche Amore, Lewd Acts)
May 1 - Worcester, MA - The Palladium (w/Thursday, Touche Amore, Lewd Acts)
May 2 - Poughkeepsie, NY - The Chance (w/Thursday, Touche Amore, Lewd Acts)
May 3 - Williamsville, NY - Club Infinity (w/Thursday, Touche Amore, Lewd Acts)
May 4 - Washington, DC - Black Cat (w/Thursday, Touche Amore, Lewd Acts)
May 5 - Norfolk, VA - Norva (w/Thursday, Touche Amore, Lewd Acts)
May 6 - New York City - Santo’s Party House (w/Touche Amore, Lewd Acts, Black Breath)
May 7 - Cleveland, OH - Grog Shop (w/Lewd Acts, Black Breath)
May 8 - Detroit, MI - Magic Stick (w/Coalesce, Lewd Acts, Black Breath)
May 9 - Chicago, IL - Bottom Lounge (w/Coalesce, Lewd Acts, Black Breath)
May 10 - Lawrence, KS - Bottleneck (w/Coalesce, Lewd Acts, Black Breath)
May 11 - Denver, CO - Marquis Theatre (w/Coalesce, Lewd Acts, Black Breath)
May 13 - Seattle, WA - Nuemo’s (w/Coalesce, Lewd Acts, Black Breath)
May 14 - Portland, OR - Satyricon (w/Coalesce, Gaza, Lewd Acts, Black Breath)
May 15 - San Francisco, CA - Slim’s (w/Coalesce, Lewd Acts, Black Breath)
May 16 - San Luis Obispo, CA - Downtown Brew (w/Coalesce, Gaza, Lewd Acts, Black Breath)
May 17 - Anaheim, CA - Chain Reaction (w/Coalesce, Gaza, Lewd Acts, Black Breath)
May 18 - Los Angeles, CA - El Rey Theatre (w/Coalesce, Gaza, Lewd Acts, Black Breath)
May 19 - Phoenix, AZ - The Clubhouse Music Venue (w/Coalesce, Gaza, Lewd Acts, Black Breath)
May 21 - Austin, TX - Emo’s Outside (w/Coalesce, Gaza, Lewd Acts, Black Breath)
May 22 - Dallas, TX - Trees (w/Coalesce, Gaza, Lewd Acts, Black Breath)
May 23 - Tulsa, OK - The Marquee (w/Gaza, Lewd Acts, Black Breath)
May 25 - Memphis, TN - Hi Tone Café (w/Gaza, Lewd Acts, Black Breath)
May 26 - Louisville, KY - Headliners Music Hall (w/Gaza, Lewd Acts, Black Breath)
May 27 - Nashville, TN - Exit/In (w/Harvey Milk, Gaza, Lewd Acts, Black Breath)
May 28 - Atlanta, GA - The Masquerade (w/Harvey Milk, Gaza, Lewd Acts, Black Breath)
May 20 - Baltimore, MD - Sonar (w/TBA)

If you haven’t picked up the new Converge, you have to check it out, it’s an instant classic.

Bodyjar is one of the bands that people either loved or never heard of. Much like many pop-punk bands before the 1994 explosion of the genre, Bodyjar hit and missed in many different points. However, in the year that saw bands like Greenday, The offspring, and Blink 182 hit big with their records, Bodyjar released one hell of an album of punk rock and pop sensiblity that still has great riffs, fast drumming and quality sing along parts.

Rimshot! came out in 1996 via Revelation Records and made quite a noise for the time. The album got them tours with Nofx, Face to Face and others, and were on their way to making some big moves. It wasn’t until 2000 that they signed with EMI, but they were well on their way with this record.

Rimshot! found its way into my collection via a small record store in Seattle, Washington. The cd was 99 cents and the store clerk wouldn’t sell me a copy of Down By Law’s “Last of the Sharpshooters”. So I ended up getting this one instead and it was well worth it. Bodyjar plays a fast paced punk rock with lots of guitar riffs, that are somewhat rough. While the recording is polished, the style is more aggressive than many other bands that came out in the same year. The sing-a-longs are there, the lyrics are interesting, but it lacks that “it” factor that made their peers rich and famous.

Bodyjar’s 1996 release Rimshot! is one of the better underground punk records I’ve heard in a long time. It is pop punk without whining, but raw, full of energy and classic songs. You won’t get most of these songs stuck in your head, but it’s still a great example of good, quality, new school punk. Check it out today, and support underground punk rock.

Story of the Year’s new record on Epitaph came out yesterday and they have released this really cool music video. MTV might not be playing videos anymore, but man, this is solid. Story of the Year impressed me on their last record and they keep making good alternative music. Epitaph has a winner on their hands.

Story of the Year - “I’m Alive”

STORY OF THE YEAR | MySpace Music Videos

Pick up Story of the Year’s “The Constant” on Cd or download the mp3 album, by clicking here.