Stream New Thrice

You can stream Thrice's new album on their myspace.

Ska Makes A Return

When the Mighty Mighty Bosstones took a four year break it seemed that ska went on hiatus. The Bosstones recently announced their triumphant come back by playing 5 shows in their hometown of Boston which is being promoted as Hometown Throwdown. The message from the band's website can be seen below.

"FINALLY!!

After a four+ year break in the action the Mighty Mighty Bosstones are geared up and ready to make some MORE NOISE!!! The band will mark their return to action with HOMETOWN THROWDOWN #10 @ the Middle East Club in Cambridge, MA December 26, 27, 28, 29 + 30. Tickets for the now legendary, ultra-intimate holiday home stand will go on-sale through Ticketmaster on Friday, October 19 at 10AM. Advance tickets for all shows are available without fees or service charges at the Middle East Box Office (open 1pm-7pm EST daily) located at 472 Mass Ave. in Cambridge, Central Square stop on the Red Line. All shows are 18+ and there will be a two ticket limit per show."

Review - The Frantic

Band: The Frantic
Album: Audio & Murder
Label: Sinister Muse Records
Rating: 1 out of 5

In a world that is now dominated by pop punk The Frantic take the purely punk rock route. You might expect another Fallout Boy wannabe from a band comprised mostly of 17 year olds. Instead, The Frantic is more like The Ramones. The step back to punk rock could be refreshing but unfortunately The Frantic is nothing to get too excited about.

If you’re looking for some good punk rock you should go ahead and pick up The Ramones, Bad Religion, or Alkaline Trio. The big difference between those bands and The Frantic is that the classic punk rock bands have songs that are actually catchy. Throughout the 25 minutes of The Frantic’s debut album Audio & Murder there isn’t one track that stands out. Each song could easily blend with the next and pass by without you even noticing. The track “Movin’ Along”, which has an alt country feel, seems like the group’s only attempt at originality. Unfortunately the track just comes off as being really cheesy and out of place.

The Frantic has accomplished a lot at a young age but still need plenty of time to progress their sound. I recommend they keep playing and try to write songs that are a little more distinct. Some maturing should help their sound, but for now Audio & Murder has little value. I wouldn’t even consider adding it to your music collection.

AP Cover

Say Anything will be featured on the cover of the December issue of Alternative Press.

Facebook Singing a New Tune

It appears that Facebook.com’s “secret” music project won’t be an iTunes-like music store as rumored but a venue for musician profiles venue similar to that of MySpace.com.

Rafat Ali of PaidContent says that the project is a sort of “artist platform” that will let bands and labels make artist profiles. It will also “allow various widgets to be embedded for music promotion, organizing events, etc.,” said Ali. These widgets will be similar to current Facebook “applications” and will continue to be made by third-party programmers.

The project promises to take the Facebook versus MySpace competition to new heights. This is especially true since MySpace’s music enterprise is one of the things that made them popular in the first place and until now has set them apart from many other social networking sites.

Hopefully the competition between the two Internet super powers will result in constant improvements in the quality and performance of each website. That should show the world that sweet sweet capitalism is still alive and well.

RIAA Using Fear as their Tactic

RIAA has filed tons of lawsuits against people that have illegally downloaded music. Most of the cases have been settled or dismissed before they have gotten to court. The first trial that has made its way to court was a victory for the RIAA and the record industry. Jammie Thomas is liable for $222,000 of copyright infringement damage. A little harsh? Or did Thomas get what she deserved? Either way the RIAA has decided that inflicting fear into users is the only way to stop illegal downloading. Read the story here.

Eve 6 is Back?

Eve 6 have reunited after the band broke up in July of 2004. I'm not sure that anybody really realized they were gone until this moment. But what the hell get in your delorean and gun it to 88 mph and lets go back to the 90s because Eve 6 is planing on recording a new album and following it up with a headlining tour.

Review - The Wonder Years

Band: The Wonder Years
Album: Get Stoked On It!
Label: No Sleep Records
Rating: 3 out 5

The Wonder Years fall under a little subgenre that I like to call popcore. For those who can’t figure it out, it’s a mix between pop punk and hardcore. Basically take Set Your Goals and Motion City Soundtrack and you should get a pretty good idea what The Wonder Years sounds like. Like many other pop punk bands The Wonder Years like to sing about random and funny topics like the Kool-Aid Man, pirates going to the prom, dinosaurs going extinct and the constant anxiety felt by the wife of a ninja. It’s clear that on their debut album Get Stoked On It! the band is out to have a good time and make fun music.

Despite the album’s overall catchiness, opening track “Keystone State Dude-core” doesn’t seem well placed on the album. It might have been better located in the middle of the record as an interlude between two songs because the song alone lacks a little in the catchy department. A better choice would have been to open the album with the track “Bout to Get Fruit Punched, Homie,” which is probably the best song on the album. This track really demonstrates the best qualities of the band: Jordan Pundik-like vocals, Motion City Soundtrack keyboards, and Comeback Kid group vocals. In addition, Set Your Goal fans that are looking for something else to listen to should really enjoy this release.

Get Stoked On It! is a fun listen for lovers of popcore with lyrics that are ridiculously funny. Will this be anybody’s favorite album (or band for that matter)? I would venture to say no. Still it’s a decent debut album and should allow The Wonder Years to continue making music for a living. On their next release I would like to see them be a little bit more experimental with their sound and separate themselves from the crowd.

"Did I do that?"

Halloween came early for Kanye West as he sported his best Urkel costume to the Dior fashion show in Paris on Monday. The only thing missing from his attempt at high fashion were some seriously high waisted pants.

Although West schooled 50 Cent in album sales, it looks like his Graduation from style school is still a long time coming.

Yes Kanye, you did do that.

Radiohead Distrubution Madness

Radiohead is making headlines for the way they are going to distribute their new record. For the first time ever the fans can decide how much they want to pay for the album. Simply type in the amount and pay it, although this is only for the digital download. They are selling a "disc box" which includes the cd, a vinyl copy of the album, artwork and lyric booklets and an enhanced album that includes extra songs, photographs and artwork. This will come to you at a steep price of $80.

I personally tried to go and do the digital download and it was a lengthy process. I set up an account and then typed in my username and password and it said that their was an error with my details. I will go back later today and try it again. If I have any success I will let you know.