AMP Magazine is giving away a free download of a track from Jim Lindberg’s (formerly of Pennywise) new band The Black Pacific.  The song is Almost Rising and you can grab it right here.

The song will appear on the band’s upcoming self-titled full-length which is slated for a September 14th release on SideOneDummy Records.

Ever wonder where some bands come up with their band names?  Well, we do, and we’re sick of sitting around scratching our heads about it.  We’re hitting the streets (aka. “Internet”) to find the origins behind some of the more bizarre, intriguing or just plain random band names in the scene.  Every Wednesday we’ll be pulling the curtain back on a different band and this week it’s prodigious punk gone alt rock band AFI.

This week we aren’t going to focus as much on the origin of the band name as we are on just what in the hell A-F-I really stands for.  There has been a lot of controversy over this and to be honest, nobody has a definitive answer.  Until singer Davey Havok tells us directly we won’t know for sure but here are the theories we’ve come across in order of least likely to most likely:

Abuncha Fucking Idiots or Another Fucking Idiot:  This rumor was circulating in the late 90’s and has never been acknowledged publicly by the band as far as we know.  It’s possible the band told somebody this as a joke and it spread or even that Davey called it this before he ever thought the band would become something more than an idea in his head.  More than likely somebody thought it was funny and had just made it up.

Ants Farming Indonesia:  There have been a few posts on the internet that it was published in Smash Magazine circa 1995 that the band decided to name themselves this before they even learned to play their instruments.  No confirmation from the band could be found.

Anthems For Insubordinates:  There are a number of websites and blog posts that claim at one time AFI stood for this but once again, no official acknowledgment from any of the band members.

Asking For it:  The band used this name as their mailing address, which for good reason caused a lot of people to believe this is what AFI stood for.  However, the band claims they only chose this name for their address because people used to frequently write to them asking for free stuff.  They thought it clever that it matched the band’s acronym but claim it was never the official name of the band.

A Fire Inside:  In recent years this is the only name the band has acknowledged and confirmed though whether or not it has always been the official name is still a mystery.  In all likelihood, the band decided this was the coolest sounding name that fit the acronym sometime after they had become more established.  Whatever random, not as bad ass sounding, name they had previously considered was thrown out the window.

My personal theory is that when Davey Havok originally thought about starting a band he never in a million years would have guessed it would become well known.  Since it most likely started as a joke for him, it’s likely he began with a jokey name like “Another Fucking Idiot” and called it AFI for short.  Once he got a few friends to join and they actually began to learn to play they probably collectively changed the name to something a little less self deprecating like “Anthems For Insubordinates”.  As the band progressed in their sound as well as their look it’s also likely that somebody came up with a cooler name to fit the AFI acronym which better encapsulated their new aesthetic and that name was “A Fire Inside”.

If you’ve got another theory feel free to share it in the comments.

SWEET! Star Fucking Hipsters have announced the dates for a full US tour that will begin the 16th of September in Pittsburgh, PA and end November 6th in Denver, Colorado. You can check out the full dates here.

The band’s latest album Never Rest In Peace was released last October on Alternative Tentacles.

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The Almost have premiered the music video for the song No I Don’t off the band’s latest album Monster Monster. Click here to check it out

Monster Monster was released this past November on Tooth & Nail Records [Read more…]

Wow, talk about an amazing cover. Frank Turner recently covered the song ADT by “friends of his, and one of his favorite bands, Fake Problems“…it pretty much rocks. You can check it out here.

The song is the lead track off their upcoming album “Real Ghosts Caught On Tape” which is scheduled to be released September 21st through SideOneDummy Records. It is the follow-up to their 2009 release It’s Great to be Alive.

Frank will be touring with Social Distortion and Lucero this fall. You can check the dates for that tour here. His critically-acclaimed Poetry for the Dead was released this past September on Epitaph.

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Another unreleased music video has been pulled from Rancid archive, this time for the song Roots Radicals off the bands definitive 1995 release …And Out Come The Wolves.

Check out the video here.

The band has recently released videos for their tunes Rattlesnake, Poison, Crane Fist, Rwanda, Spirit Of ‘87, and Hooligans.

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Well, it looks like the long wait for a My Chemical Romance update is over. The band just announced that their album is finished, complete, kaput, in the proverbial can! Although there’s no other music update, or any hint at what the album is about, the band urges fans to “keep checking back for the shit to hit the fan.” The band also designed a guitar strap for the new Guitar Hero: Warriors Of Rock game that’s due out later this month. You can get your strap by pre-ordering the game on Amazon.

Whoa! Here’s some  news to get your Wednesday started off right. The Queers are streaming a brand new track, Fucked In The Head, on their MySpace page.

The song is off their upcoming Asian Man Records release Back To The Basement, due out November 16th.

In other news, The Queers have also announced that they will be reissuing all of their back catalog on vinyl through Asian Man as well.

All the way from across the pond, this one is for you hardcore fans.  To Ed Gein is from Olbia, Italy and today they’re offering a free download of their most recent (self-titled) release.

Snag it here.

Wow!  Seems like it’s been a while but Fat Wreck Chords has finally added a new band to their roster.  And this one is a bit different sounding than the typical Fat signing.  Old Man Markley is a 9 piece bluegrass punk band from Los Angeles and if you have no idea what bluegrass punk sounds like you can stream the band’s song “For Better, For Worse” right here.  The track will appear on a 2 song 7-inch of the same name, which is slated for release October 26th on Fat.

The band also has plans to release a new full-length on Fat in early 2011.

You can see what Fat and Old Man Markley had to say about the signing right here.

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