Swedish skate punkers Steve & The Alcoholics are streaming a demo of a new track called “The World We Knew” over on their facebook Band Profile. Check it out – it’s a pretty good listen. The boys are currently in the studio recording their debut full-length album, which should be released late this year.

Steve & The Alcoholics first EP, “Greatest Hits” was released last year. Somehow, the band are still unsigned.

First of all, I hope you readers appreciate the fact that I’ve decided to stay in on a Saturday night just so I could find and write stories like this one just for you.

It would appear that a pretty kickass Midwest punk split is in the works between Ohio’s The Dopamines and Minnesota’s Dear Landlord.  Wait, is Minnesota considered Midwest?  That stuff has always confused me… But I digress.  Not much is known about the release other than it looks to be coming out on Paper + Plastick Records.  You can check out the cover art and the source of this half-baked story right here.

While on the Warped Tour last summer Chris #2 of Anti-Flag teamed up with rapper P.O.S. and members of Alexisonfire and the AKAs to record a couple songs in the tour’s traveling studio.  The tracks are being released on a limited edition 7-inch May 31st via No Sleep Records under the band name Wharf Rats.

It’s unclear whether anything more will come of the collaboration but you can stream the song “Capital Gains” right here (no, it’s not rap – it’s straight up punk rock!).

These dudes look like straight up old school mafia.  If you don’t know by now, The Old Firm Casuals is the latest Oi! band from Lars Frederiksen of Rancid fame.  The fellas have just announced that their first release will be a self-titled 7-inch put out April 22nd on Oi! The Boat Records and the cover art is <- yonder.

You can check out a teaser video featuring music from the release right here.

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These guys are damn near impossible to find information on, but Japanese punk act, Fact, are apparently releasing a new EP titled “Eat Your Words” sometime in the near future.  One of the songs that will appear on it is called “The Shadow Of Envy” and the band has just released a music video for it, which you can check out right here.

Vagrant released their self-titled album in April 2009.

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The Carmines are an Orange County-based three-piece pop-punk act who whose newest full-length, “Older, Fatter, Wider” was released 1/11/11 on Canada’s Merman Records. Sadly, I’ve been a little slow on the uptake in doing the review.

The Carmines feature a classic (read as: good) upbeat pop-punk sound, in the same vein as the Ramones, The Mr. T. Experience, The Groovie Ghoulies, The Queers and many of the old Lookout! Records acts from the 1990s. Speaking of The Queers, the album’s press kit features a long testimonial from the one-and-only Joe Queer himself. Queer refers to The Carmines as a “long lost SoCal surf band circa ’63 magically transported to 2010.”

All things considered, Queer is pretty dead-on. “Older, Fatter, Wider” is ten catchy sing-a-longs about the trials and tribulations of falling into, and out of, love with the girl of your dreams, all set to some fun, uptempo melodies, vocal harmonizing, and “all downstrokes, all the time” – good time, summer driving music.

Even upon first listen, “Older, Fatter, Wider” seems very comfortable and familiar, and that isn’t a bad thing. The Carmines aren’t exactly blazing any new trails, just making good, old-fashioned, unpretentious punk music with a true pop sensibilities. In fact, they are taking pure pop-inspired punk back to its roots; at some point it took a weird turn (I blame Blink-182, Good Charlotte and MTV’s TRL), and you’ve gotta respect a band trying to take back the reins from the teeny-boppers.

Some of the tunes are a little more surf inspired (not surprisingly, album opener “Surf’s Up and So Are You” is among them), while the remainder are traditional upbeat pop-punk (“Helpless Over You” and “She Forgot My Name” are probably the best examples).  “I Wanna Go To The Sock Hop,” “Goodbye to Me and You” and “Helpless Over You” are as well-crafted and infectiously catchy as anything the previously mentioned genre staples have ever put out; short, sweet and to the point. In some ways, however, the bulk of the album sounds as though it would be better live than on record, as singer/bass player Nate’s voice comes across a tad overdone and, at times, overly dramatic. “No More Patty” and its chorus about “Head Boppin’ / Name Droppin’ … Shot Callin’/ Hip Hoppin’ “sounds a little pedestrian and almost too formulaic, even for the genre.

The tunes on “Older, Fatter, Wider” are all concise, though not quite Ramones brief (most songs are at or just above the three-minute mark). At 3:26, “Sleepwalkin’” feels almost Herculean in length.  If your collection features a lot of genuine, old school pop-punk, “Older, Fatter, Wider” will be a welcome addition.

**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.

Dang! Records is doing a live stream of tonight’s Red City Radio/Samuel Caldwell’s Revenge/Perdition show at The Grotto in Ft. Worth, Texas.  If you feel like hitting up a great show but can’t seem to get off your couch go to Dang! Records official website at 8:15pm (West Coast)/10:25 (Central)/11:15pm (East Coat) and rock out from the comfort of your living room.

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Boston punk act Transit are releasing a new 7″ on Rise Records in honor of Record Store Day on April 16th. It’s titled “Promise Nothing” and you can get a sneak peek at the artwork and one of the songs right here.

In addition, the band will also be heading into the studio this summer to record their upcoming full length on Rise Records.

Rise Against are streaming their entire upcoming album, “Endgame,” right here.  Booyah!

“Endgame” hits stores on March 15th via Interscope Records.

Check out our review of it here.

I know what you’re thinking: New, unsigned, young punk band – I bet they are either ripping off Blink-182 or their singer sounds like Cookie Monster. In the case of Thousand Oaks, California’s The Bogarts, you’d be delightfully wrong.  Formed in 2009, The Bogarts are very much a punk rock band in the traditional sense. Their most recent EP, “Ideologies,” reveals a band that is wise beyond their years. While they obviously don’t take themselves too seriously (their MySpace domain is “nickhasacutebutt”), they certainly take their music seriously. Their well-crafted melodic hardcore inspired skate punk sound displays a band with some real staying power. Check out their bandcamp page to hear both of their releases.