A couple days ago Black Veil Brides front-man, Andy Biersack, did a video interview with BlankTV in which he tells a story about being snubbed by singer Mike McColgan of Street Dogs.  Biersack, who claims to be a huge Street Dogs fan, doesn’t get specific but insinuates that McColgan was less than friendly when Andy met him after a Social Distortion show back in 2005.  In response to these snubbing allegations, McColgan issued the following statement exclusively to Dying Scene.

“Andy seems like a nice enough guy and it appears that Spielman [BlankTV host doing the interview] led him down the primrose path and had him concoct some false story about me snubbing him. It was hilarious as well when Andy said he waited in line to meet me back in 2005 when we were the opening band for Social Distortion. There were no lines to meet me or anyone else in Street Dogs on that tour! With the exception of a few Murphys fans here and there no one knew who we were! My message to Andy is simple: pick your friends better and don’t operate in this business with snake oil salesmen!”

You can watch the original BlankTV interview with Andy Biersack right here (jump to minute 6:05 for part about McColgan).

Florida’s Nightlights have released a new song titled “That John Denver is Full of Shit” off their upcoming debut LP “So It Goes,” which will be released on Eulogy Records.  Give it a listen right here.

No official release date yet on “So It Goes” but fans can expect it out this Spring.  Nightlights are currently touring their way up to Canada.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Chris Fogal, the vocalist / guitarist for Denver Pop-Punk mainstays The Gamits. The Gamits have been singing their hearts out for 17 years and in my opinion are the unsung heroes for the entire pop-punk genre.  Everyone should give this band a chance. From 2005 to 2009 they went on break and then in 2010, returned re-energized with their new album “Parts.”

In the interview we discuss the album, song-writing, overcoming tough times, music trends, achieving your dreams, the future of the band and plenty more! Check out our interview about all-things Gamits here. You won’t be disappointed.

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Teenage Bottlerocket released a brand-spankin’ new 7-inch, lovingly entitled “Mutilate Me,” this week (April 12^th, to be exact), and it finds TBR picking up right where “They Came From The Shadows” left off. “Mutilate Me” clocks in at five-and-a-half minutes of pure pop punk performed the way it should be, and showcases TBR continuing their meteoric rise from the mean streets of Wyoming. Teenage Bottlerocket continue to prove that you don’t need to be from the Lower East Side or the East Bay to be able to pull off great pop punk music: Short, uptempo songs, call and response style lyrics, catchy guitar hooks, plenty of oozin’ ahhs.

According to the band, the A-side title track from this Fat Wreck-released EP’s is about “preferring things a little rough in the bedroom.” It is infectiously poppy enough that you may catch yourself singing “I want you to/Dominate me, I want you to/Violate me” under your breath while in the checkout line at the grocery store. Just remember to use your inside voice.

The first of the album’s B-sides is “Punk House Of Horror.” Shades of early Alkaline Trio, the song is appropriately poppy and fast-paced. One wonders if the song is a reference to label boss/touring partner Fat Mike’s new Vegas pad. The second B-side is a cover of Bad Religion’s “Henchman.” Generally speaking, I get a little apprehensive when newer bands cover songs by some of the punk scene’s stalwarts, but TBR definitely do justice to the original; they prove more than capable of pulling off a proper homage to the piss-and-vinegar of the original while leaving their own fingerprints all over the song. As such, it is a little less poppy than traditional TBR, but a solid, respectable cover nonetheless.

In the ultimate sign of a well-made 7-inch, “Mutilate Me” left me hoping for much more new material from Teenage Bottlerocket. We should be so lucky!

**The Album Reviews published on Dying Scene are written and submitted by fans of punk music, just like you. If you disagree with an album’s rating, feel free to voice your opinion and give it your own rating in the comments. If you’d like to submit your own review do it here.

With a European tour set to kick off this summer, Bad Religion has been confirmed for this year’s U.K. edition of the Sonisphere festival, set to take place July 8-10 at Knebworth. The festival does actually feature a number of punk or punk-derived (and even metal) acts that we’ve covered here on this site, including Motörhead, Weezer, Sum 41, In Flames, Cancer Bats, Protest the Hero, All Time Low, Parkway Drive, Gallows and Four Year Strong. You can read the rest of the lineup here.

Bad Religion is currently touring with Rise Against, who released their new album “Endgame” exactly a month ago.

The newest addition to the ever-growing Black Numbers roster is Philadelphia’s Luther. The label will be teaming up with these fellows to release their debut 7-inch, “Sevens,” this summer.

You can start familiarizing yourself with the band by heading over to their bandcamp page and streaming/downloading for free their demo, “In Through the Nose, Out Through the Mouth.”

We’ll have more details regarding art, street date, and a streaming song very soon.

Every Friday the punk rock geniuses here at Dying Scene unleash some punk rock trivia. Today’s “fun factoid” is about a lesser known collaboration between members of some quite well known bands.

I sure got a kick out of this one. Apparently Matt Hensley, who plays accordion for LA Irish punk band Flogging Molly, was in at least one ska band when he was a teenager. I’m still not exactly sure what instrument he played, but I’m 99% sure it wasn’t the accordion. Using my high tech detective skills (Google), I was able to track one of these bands down. I present to you 90’s female-fronted ska band Spy Kids, which featured a young Matt Hensley.  According to their Myspace page, they opened for the likes of Hepcat, The Selector, and Let’s Go Bowling, all during their short-lived career in the early 90’s.

Maybe the day will come that Hensley will bust out his checkered fedora again…but probably not.

NJ pop-punkers I Call Fives had a sit-down to discuss their recent Canadian tour and upcoming split with Rust Belt Lights, as well as their future touring plans and a timetable for the recording of their next full-length (spoiler: they’re recording it this summer!) You can check out the full text of the interview here.

I Call Fives released an EP titled Bad Advice on No Sleep Records earlier this year.

Hardcore super-crew S.O.S. has announced that their first release, an EP which is currently unnamed, will be available on June 21. Good Fight Music is handling most of the distribution, with Reaper Records taking care of the vinyl release.

S.O.S. features current or former members of Agnostic Front, Hatebreed, Madball, Terror, and Trapped Under Ice – a pretty impressive pedigree of current and past heavy-hitters.

SoCal long-time punks Face To Face have dropped some knowledge on us regarding their forthcoming and seventh studio album, Laugh Now, Laugh Later – they’ve given up the full track listing, which you can check out here.

Laugh Now, Laugh Later will be released on May 17 through Antagonist Records – which happens to be owned by F2F frontman Trever Keith. You can check out the cover art at left. The band’s last full-length was 2002’s How To Ruin Everything.

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