As a result of the Ben Weasel SXSW incident, The Soviettes, Chinese Telephones and Teenage Bottlerocket have canceled their scheduled appearances at the impending Weasel Fest headlined by Screeching Weasel on May 27-29 at Reggie’s in Chicago, Ill.

Ben Weasel issued his apology for what happened.

“I want to apologize to both the club owner and audience member involved for my actions during our show at SXSW on Friday night. While their actions were outside of my control, my regretful reaction is wholly my responsibility. Whatever my feelings are about fans crossing the line like that, I wish I could have that moment back and deal with it in the same spirit as I did the preceding 60 minutes. Since I can’t, an apology is all I’ve got and I sincerely hope those people will accept it. Up front, I wish to say that I am sorry to the fan and any others who were involved. As a husband, father, and a musician on the public stage, I understand that it is my duty to always take responsibility for my actions in a socially acceptable way, and most especially in the face of confrontation.

I want to apologize to the San Antonio fans, also, for having to cancel that show. I hope we can make it up down the road. I’ve obviously already talked to my band about it but I also want to publicly apologize for putting them in a bad position, as well as my manager, booking agent, label, and the support bands. My actions were unprofessional and unfair to the people I work with.”

You can see The Soviettes’ statement on their MySpace page and Chinese Telephones’ statement on their website. Teenage Bottlerocket announced their decision via twitter.

Now that all the tracks off “Doesn’t Play Well With Others” have been released, what’s next for Lagwagon frontman Joey Cape? More solo material, tours, maybe another Lagwagon album?

On March 11th at the Slidebar in Fullerton, I had the pleasure of talking to Joey a few hours before his solo set. We discussed his latest solo release, future Lagwagon plans, judging one’s own creations and much more. Check out the full interview here.

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L.A. Hardcore supergroup OFF! have announced that their upcoming 7-inch “Compared to What” will be released on April 26th on Southern Lord records.  The release contains two tracks recorded in February with the urgent intention of recording and releasing something special for their 1st ever US tour alongside Trash Talk. “Comparied to What” features original music by Off! with the lyrics written by Eugene McDaniels and later recorded and made famous by Les McCann and Roberta Flack.

You can check out the details and order your copy here.

Their latest “First Four EPs” release came out last year.

Tragic Hero Records has announced the signing of Osaka, Japan’s Crossfaith and plan to release the band’s debut album “The Dream, The Space” early this summer. The press release from Tragic Hero had this to say about the band:

“Bringing a solid blend of electronic, hardcore and metal music into one seamless slab of heaviness, Crossfaith has already established an impressive following in the states, as well as Japan.”

Crossfaith has toured and made their name opening for bands Bleeding Through, Hatebreed, Machinehead, and The Used. The band is in the process of putting together a charity event to help the earthquake relief efforts in their home country.

Sweden’s very own Sister Sin not only knows how to rock, but how to get down and party. “Sound Of The Underground” is their 3rd studio album release on Victory Records, and their new video  “24/7”  comes fully equipped with bazookas, girl fights, head banging, and lots of shredding….what more could you want?

Sister Sin is currently on Revolver’s Hottest Chicks in Hard Rock Tour with “In This Moment” “Straight Line Stitch” and “System Divide.” Check out the tour dates on Victory’s site here.

Click to see new video here.

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Pop-punk band Tit Patrol are streaming three tracks that will appear on their upcoming split with Direct Hit! These dudes will be touring the Midwest for the remainder of the month, and you can check out their tour dates and new songs “Ghost Figure” “Slimming Figure” and “Delusions Of Adequacy” on their bandcamp here.

This release has come quick since their last 7″ split with The Mad Splatter’s in November of 2010, and will definitely not disappoint fans old or new. Split was recorded and produced by Mike Bardzik at Noisy Little Critter in downtown West Chester, PA.

Boston, Massachusetts, punk act Transit have posted videos of them performing acoustic versions of their songs “Just Go, Just Leave.” “Something Left Behind and “1978.”

You can check out the performances here.

The band will release a limited edition 7-inch on Record Store Day. It will be a  follow-up to their “Something Left Behind” EP which was released last February via Mightier Than Sword. The band will also be heading into the studio this summer to record their upcoming full length on Rise Records.

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Canadian screamo outfit Silverstein have announced that they will release a cover album on Record Store Day. The album will feature cover versions of songs by Kid Dynamite, Propagandhi and American Nightmare. Here’s what the band had to say,

“We are pleased to announce that we will be participating in this years Record Store Day! As fans of music, vinyl and the many great independent record stores in North America, we couldn’t be more to contribute a release this year. On April 16th, 2011 head down to your favourite local independent record store and pickup a copy of our Support Your Local Record Store 7”. These 3 bands are some of our favourites from the era of melodic hardcore / punk that we grew up with in the late 90’s and early 2000’s, and it has been a lot of fun recording these songs and playing them live. For more information on Record Store Day, as well as participating stores and artists, please visit www.recordstoreday.com”

Check out the artwork and tracklist here. “Rescue” their upcoming full-length album is due out April 26th on Hopeless Records.

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Legendary Philly act, The Dead Milkmen, have digitally released their long-awaited new album “The King In Yellow.”  You can get it directly from the band here.

“The King In Yellow” is  the band’s first set of new material since 1995’s Stoney’s Extra Stout (Pig).

You can stream samples of all 17 songs here as well.

It’s Monday again, and you know what that means.  Time to hear another song off the upcoming Pour Habit album, “Got Your Back.”  This week’s track is called “Tomahawk” Give it a listen here. Some of you might recognize the song as a Japanese bonus track from their previous album “Suiticide.”  Personally, it’s one of my favorite Pour Habit songs.

“Got Your Back” is due out April 12th, 2011 on Fat Wreck Chords and every Monday until the release date they will be streaming a new song from the release.