Paper + Plastick punkers, Blacklist Royals, wrapped up their West Coast tour a couple of months ago and have put together a four-minute compilation video of their exploits along the Best Coast.  Some good accordioning goin’ on in the first minute or so.  Cheggitout here.

Blacklist’s latest release, Semper Liberi, came out in May this year on Paper + Plastick.

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We know you’re up to your ears in Bad Religion news, music, and books, but a friend of the band (Mike Clay) recorded their 14 October show at the Kool Haus in Toronto and is distributing it to all who aren’t Bad Religioned out.  Mike named the boot War On The Weather and even made some custom artwork for it (see story photo) (higher res here, but are also included in the download).  Cop the disc here. (Spoiler alert: There are two Rush covers buried within Generator.)

The download is just for MP3 format tracks, but the band says that a lossless option will soon be available.

In addition to the audio bootleg, a video compilation of the same show can be viewed here.

Bad Religion released their latest effort–The Dissent Of Man–last month on none other than Epitaph.

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Sundowner (side project of Lawrence Arms singer, Chris McCaughan) has released a new music video for their tune, In The Flicker.  Check it out here.

The song appears on the band’s sophomore effort, We Chase The Waves, out now on Asian Man Records.

The Washington Post reported that five men involved in the beating death of 27-year-old, Ali Ahmed Mohammed, outside of the nightclub, DC9, after an Agnost Front concert last Thursday evening were being charged with aggravated assault.

For a yet-unknown reason, Mohammed was denied entry into the club, resulting in him becoming angry to the point of hurling a brick through the front window of DC9.  The five club staff (one of which was co-owner, William Spieler) then chased Mohammed, eventually caught up to him, and pummeled the man as one of the employees held Mohammed down.

Witnesses of the event told police that the club’s staff threw Mohammed to the ground and repeatedly stomped on his head and body.

Officers arrived on the scene at 2:30am Friday and found Mohammed unconscious and not breathing.  He was taken to Howard University Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 3:15am.

All five men were charged with aggravated assault (not second-degree murder) and were released after a court proceeding on Saturday, but were still placed in a high-intensity supervision program which includes electronic monitoring.

Read the entire article here.

The death came just as Agnostic Front wrapped up their 25th Anniversary tour.

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I think every couple of years the underground scene will get a slew of bands that play a particular brand of music and this brand persists until some other genre steps in for it. Think of it as a flavour of the week, if weeks were years long. For example, we had pop infused emo take over the airwaves just last year, before that we had a slew of bands that all sounded either like Dillinger Four or Silverstein and even before that we had skate punk in the 90’s. This is relevant because I feel like the current trend these days is rock’ n’ roll oriented punk rock, with the current giant (and possible trendsetter) being The Gaslight Anthem, who served as a flag bearer to a plethora of bands who have showed us their own twist on this genre. If their new 12’inch, “Nothing Is Fucked Here,” is any indication you can go ahead and add New Jersey’s four-piece, Banquets, to that list.

From the opening riff of “Lyndon B. Magic Johnson” it’s pretty easy to tell what you’re getting yourself into. The warm and rocking riff comes blaring through your headphones and Travis’s melodic and smokey voice singing “I used to run/ I had dimes slipping through my hands / I left these kids behind” (Probably making reference to his time in similarly-styled New Jersey band, Let Me Run) should recall some of Gaslight Anthem’s most anthem worthy numbers paired with the punk infused chords of bands like The Loved Ones or Carpenter. These guys definitely wear their influences on their sleeve, but they do it proudly and effortlessly, which is refreshing to the ears. You can tell that these guys also come well-versed in the genre; boasting members from the previously mentioned Let Me Run and Static Radio NJ (And one dude from The Banner, but his creative contribution is probably all but lost here) these men are not here to fuck around, it’s clear they know what sound they’re after and how to get it. From the melancholy “I Wish I Was A Little More Lou Diamond Phillips” to the closing banger that is “Teddy, My Pal, and His Canal Panama”, Banquets have crafted a diverse, sugary and catchy little 12’inch that should have almost any fan of honest, tight and fun punk rock’n’roll singing along in no time.

Speaking of singing along, lyrically the band jumps along on a similar fair of topics that their contemporaries have: Girls, drinking, being broke, the hard times and getting over them. Sure, it’s not ground breaking as far as lyrical content is concerned but it’s what they know and what they know you know so why not just sing about it? After all, you’re the one that’s going to get it tattoo’d one day because it speaks to you. And that’s the thing, the music here really speaks to you because these guys are dudes just like you and I and they ain’t faking it. From the lyrics to the melodies and drum beats, this is music written by the fans for the fans and it shows. The label’s even put in a ton of effort into this release, putting it out as a one sided 12’inch vinyl with a hand screened design on the B-Side because if you like this kind of music chances are you collect vinyl. I know I do, and a hand screened B-Side sounds rad.

Perhaps Banquets’ triumphs though are also their downfalls. As you’ve probably gathered from the praise of the last paragraph, Banquets doesn’t stray much from the path that’s already well worn by bands before them. They stick to the formula and though the formula’s good it’s still nothing new. You’ve heard this before. Have you heard it better? I think it’s too early in Banquets career to decide but some more experimentation on their part could lead to great results. They’re a competent group of musicians with all the right moves for this kind of music, their talent is very much there and it shows in spades. Now, all they need to do is let go a bit and find their own, unique sound within this rapidly growing scene. Hopefully the future holds something a bit less safe but still as fun. They can do it, I have faith.

Fans of Thrice, Saves The Day, Bayside, and The Get Up Kids can rejoice as five more East Coast dates have been announced for the “Where’s The Band” tour.  As the name of the tour suggests, each act features strictly the singer from each band, with Dustin Kensrue repping Thrice, Chris Conley for Saves The Day/Two Tongues, Matt Pryor of The Get Up Kids/New Amsterdams, and Anthony Reneri of Bayside.  The latest dates and locations are as follows:

8 Dec 2010 – The Middle East – Cambridge, MA

9 Dec 2010 – Ottobar – Baltimore, MD

10 Dec 2010 – The Trocadero – Philadelphia, PA

11 Dec 2010 – Music Hall of Williamsburg – Brooklyn, NY

12 Dec 2010 – Highline Ballroom – New York, NY

More info can be found on the event’s MySpace page.

Well, aside from streaming the latest track in the second-to-last post, fans can now get up on some clips of every song on Underoath’s 9 November release, Ø (disambiguation), at Amazon.com.

Christian metal-core act, Underoath, have posted In Division, a new track from the upcoming release, Ø (disambiguation).  Check it out now on the band’s MySpace.

Ø (disambiguation) is set to hit the shelves on 9 November on Roadrunner Records and is a follow-up to 2008’s Lost In The Sounds Of Separation.

New Jersey heroes The Bouncing Souls have announced the dates and lineup for the 4th annual “Home for the Holidays” event that takes place in Asbury Park, NJ from December 26-29, 2010.

The four day musical extravaganza will see the Bouncing Souls performing at the Stone Pony along with Fake Problems, Strike Anywhere, Leftöver Crack, H2O and a slew of other incredible bands. Check out the full lineup here.

The band celebrated its 20th anniversary last year, which culminated in the release of their 8th studio album “Ghosts on the Boardwalk” on Chunksaah Records in early 2010.

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