Here’s some random news for a slow news day Saturday.

Wugazi is a self-proclaimed labor of love between Cecil Otter & Swiss Andy in which the two cut up every imaginable Fugazi record and tried out every Wu-Tang acapella they could get their hands on.  The result is Wugazi: 13 Chambers.

Download/stream it for free here.

PunksInVegas.com has unveiled another video in their ongoing “Stripped Down Sessions” series. The video features ska punks We Are The Union performing an acoustic version of their song “Curtain Calls,” the original of which can be found on their Paper + Plastick release “Great Leaps Forward.”

The video was filmed at the Poplar Center for Cultural Excellence after their highly energetic show at The Box Office with I Call Fives, The Story So Far, Tuesday After School, Everybody Meltdown, and Murder Majesty.

Check out the video here.

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Anyone who listens to horror punk (or possibly even psycho-billy) should have heard of Blitzkid. The band has been releasing their music, which shows influence from The Misfits and The Damned with a touch The Cramps throw in for good measure, since 1998.

I first discovered this band six or seven years ago when a friend gave me the “Let Flowers Die” album. I enjoyed some of the songs, especially the “Pumpkin Patch Murders” but I wasn’t thrilled with the record as a whole, so several years passed before I bothered to listen to another Blitzkid release. Fast forward a few years to sometime in ’08. I was bored and searching iTunes for some new music when I found Blitzkid’s “Five Cellars Below” release. I checked out the samples and decided to go ahead and buy it. After listening to it in its entirety I found that there were some very good songs on that album and a few pretty bad ones as well. About a year later I found and bought their “Trace Of A Stranger” album from a used CD store. Unfortunately on that release, the bad outweighed the good. So… I guess what I’ve been trying to get across in that rambling history of my time with Blitzkid is that they have the ability to write some awesome songs but are not so good at creating awesome albums.

“Apparitional” is no exception to that rule. Actually, this may be the their worst album yet. The whole thing feels like a disjointed mess. To me it sounds more like a poorly put together B-sides compilation than it does a proper album. It’s also a very, very boring record, which is odd because there really isn’t a horrible song on the disc. Most of these songs are good on their own, some are great, but each time I put this album on, I soon wanted to turn it off and listen to something else.

There are a couple of highlights and one missed opportunity on “Apparitional” that I want to described to you in a bit more detail.

The first one is “Casque of Amontillado”. This is the one that they just missed the bulls-eye with. Musically it’s a cool rock-n-roll track with saxophone throughout the song. But lyrically (it’s a retelling of an Edgar Allan Poe short story) it seemed too forced and kinda lame. With better lyrics this track could have been great but as it is, I don’t really care for it.

“Cedar Bluff” is one that I enjoyed quite a bit. It’s a short song, under two minutes, and has a 1950’s sock hop sound to it. “Mr. Gore” is another of my favorites on this album. It’s one of the more punk songs on the disc and actually sounds a bit like Alkaline Trio, especially in the chorus.

The best song on “Apparitional” is “Head Over Hills”. It starts out as a fast paced punk track but slows down for the verses, similar to “Mary And The Storm” from their “Five Cellars Below” album. Lyrically this song seems to be about a love story set in Sleepy Hollow. There is also an alternate, slower version of this song tacked on to the end of the album. It starts about three and a half minutes into the song “She Won’t Stop Bleeding”.

Other good songs are the previously mentioned “She Won’t Stop Bleeding”, a Misfits like punk track. “The Iscariot”, a slower song and “Mr. Sardonicus”, a punker with an obvious ’50’s influence.

It was difficult for me to figure out what rating to give this release. Like I said earlier, “Apparitional” is in essence a boring album that feels very disorganized but it does have a few borderline amazing songs on it so… I’m going to give it a 3 stars but the actual rating should be a 2.5.

If you like your punk on the folky side, this post is for you.  Atlanta’s The Wild and Pittsburgh’s Run, Forever released a split 7-inch in June on Solidarity Recordings and if you didn’t scoop it up already, now’s your chance.  You can grab it for free right here.

As if that wasn’t enough, The Wild is also offering a free download of their album, “A Collection.”  The aptly titled release compiles all of The Wild’s out-of-print singles, EPs, live songs and split releases. You can grab a free download of the record from Quote Unquote Records here.

If you missed Title Fight at this year’s Krazy Fest or wanna see if you can find yourself somewhere in the crowd, you can watch the band’s full set right here.

Title Fight released “Shed” earlier this year via SideOneDummy.

New Jersey pop-punk band Man Overboard have just announced some summer dates down under with I Am Villian. You can check the dates out here.

Man Overboard are currently in studio recording their first full-length of all new material since last year’s “Real Talk.”

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D.R.U.G.S. frontman Craig Owens is totally hard at work. With this summers Warped tour, new music, acoustic shows and even a movie, the band and Craig show no signs of slowing down anytime soon. In a recent interview, Owens talks about Warped tour, his upcoming musical plans and more. You can check it out right here.

D.R.U.G.S. (Destroy Rebuild Until God Shows) released their debut, self-titled full length album in February 2011 on Sire Records.

Long Island hardcore band Stray From The Path have just posted their new single “Death Beds” which also features guests vocals from fellow hardcore act The Ghost Inside. You can listen here.

“Death Beds” comes off the band’s upcoming album “Rising Sun” which will be released August 30th via Sumerian Records.

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Cobra Starship have just announced some details about their upcoming album “Night Shades.” The album now has an official release date of August 30th and will be released via Fueled By Ramen. You can also check out the album artwork right here.

Cobra Starship’s last album was 2009′s “Hot Mess.”

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Today here at Dying Scene, we are proud to bring you an exclusive video premiere from Texan punk act Samuel Caldwell’s Revenge. The track is called “Root Hogs” and you can check out the video right here.  For those unfamiliar with Samuel Caldwell’s Revenge, think Strung Out meets Descendents… A great combo!

“Root Hogs” appears off the band’s split with Perdition which was released today via Dang!Records.  You can stream and/or purchase it here.

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