Saginaw pop-punk/thrash band Act As One announced today that they will be heading back into the studio next week to record a new EP which will be released as a EP/DVD combo later this year.

The band released their debut full-length, “No Looking Back” earlier this year on Capeside Records.

**The Album Reviews published on Dying Scene are written and submitted by regular users of the site. These users are not professional music critics nor are they paid for what they write. 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.

It hard to explain why this record is so good. Man Overboard‘s first full LP Real Talk is 12 catchy as sin songs, which get stuck in your head for hours, and when you return to listen to them, it’s as if it’s been years since you’ve heard it.

It’s that good.

How Man Overboard has released one of the best records of the year, I can’t comprehend, but it does make me feel like an idiot for saying “if you think pop punk is dead, then listen to this album,” at the end of all of old reviews. Real Talk is the album that really puts pop punk back on it’s feet. It’s got all the right ingredients; palm muted power chord intros, traded off vocals between two equally pop punky sounding singers, one high pitched, one sensitive (think Set Your Goals), big drums, and audible bass parts. Each song is perfectly arranged, with the right amount of chorus matched by enough tension to make the relief feel like a warm blanket on a cold night.

World Favorite, Real Talk’s first actual “song,” kicks off . Simplistic lyrics that flow atop a standard, three chord verse are traded off and ganged up in the classic pop punk fashion. The chorus hits, and that’s when the party in your ears starts to pick up. Open power chords, punched through your headphones never sounded so good. She’s Got Her Own Man Now is the quintessential broken heart requiem. Slow verses with heavy bass, dirty guitars, and droning voices bellow the old memories and new hopes. The song picks up in speed, but stay’s heavy on the feet, making it perfect for any good break up mix.

It is hard to deny it, Real Talk is the perfect break up album. I know this for a fact. For some odd reason, it’s hard to find break up albums these days. They used to be everywhere, but now, it’s all positive, pink stuff, screamy, scary stuff, punk, political stuff, or super sad acoustic stuff. Yet, Real Talk is fast enough to not drag you down, while being sad enough to relate to. The words are simple, so you can be singing along by the second listen. The music sounds like something you’ve heard before, while at the same time sounding new and fresh.

We’ll see if Man Overboard can stay afloat. I hope they do. They’re young enough to mature into the next big thing.

Female fronted punk rock act Fiction Reform have premiered the music video for their song “Whites In Their Eyes” and you can check it out right here.

The song appears on the band’s most recent album Revelation In The Palms Of The Weak released in April on Basement Records.

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Connecticut punk band Make Do And Mend are releasing their brand new full-length, “End Measured Mile” October 26th on Paper+Plastick and Panic Records.  To get a taste for what’s coming on the album you can stream the new track, “Transparent Seas,” right here.

“Our biggest goal in both the writing and recording of End Measured Mile was to grow as musicians and create a record that was a marked progression from our last EP,” says vocalist/guitarist James Carroll. “In our opinions, we succeeded with flying colors.”

Make Do And Mend released their EP “Bodies Of Water” last year.

Gainesville, FL’s party-thrash band, Savage Brewtality, is releasing their first LP entitled “The Last Slice” on LP/digital download October 12th on Fest Records. This will be the first release on the newly formed label from the people who put on THE FEST in Gainesville, FL. The album will be exclusively distributed by No Idea Records and comes with a digital download code.

To celebrate, the band has leaked a song from the LP entitled “Wacky Shack”. You can head over to the band’s MySpace page to check it out.

Guitarist Ryan Geis had this to say about the explanation of what exactly a “Wacky Shack” is:

“Wacky Shack is when you take any amount ‘found’ objects and pile them up on a buddy who is passed the fuck out. Often referred to as a ‘shaming’, this version encourages the piling on of boxes, furniture, and other large objects. So when the victim wakes up, he/she finds himself/herself in some sort of shack that is wacky. One rule is that you can’t ‘Wacky Shack’ someone in their own bed. Another is: the victim must still be wearing their shoes. Another fun twist is to create a ‘hand sandwich’. Grab two pieces of bread, some cheese and an assortment of condiments. Carefully place the hand of the ‘Wacky Shack-ee’ between said bread, cheese and condiments. But be careful. Don’t wake the meat!”

Savage Brewtality consists of members of Rehasher, Army of Ponch, and Religious as Fuck.

During this year’s Warped Tour, Birmingham, UK punk veterans GBH crossed the pond to participate in the festivities before continuing on for their own US tour. During the Mountain View leg of Warped, Dying Scene was able to sit down with vocalist Colin, to discuss the sentiments around large music festivals, crazy memories of tours south of the border, and what fans can expect from the legends in the future. Read the entire interview here.

GBH’s latest album, Perfume and Piss, was released in April on Hellcat Records.

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Every Friday the punk rock geniuses here at Dying Scene are going to unleash a little bit of punk scene trivia all over your asses. Today’s “fun factoid” is about Bad Religion’s album “Stranger Than Fiction” and it’s spectacular lineup of guest vocalists.

NOFX guitar player, Eric Melvin, is such a huge fan of sci-fi novels he has a tattoo reading ‘Don’t Panic’ on the back of his neck as a tribute to the popular comic sci-fi series “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”.  In the series, “DON’T PANIC” (always upper-case) is a phrase written on the cover of the The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

Know an interesting story or bit of punk rock trivia? Share it with us here and if we publish it, we just might send you a reward.

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It looks like New York’s Bomb The Music Industry has been working on this new album called Vacation. From the look of things, it seems this album will be released in about a year. So we have something to look forward to. Be sure to check back here for more updates as they surface.

Oh, and remember when we covered that video Bomb The Music Industry did? Well, they’re releasing it as a 7″ single “very soon” on Paper + Plastick. Both of the songs on the 7″ are “probably gonna appear” on the upcoming Vacation.

New York punk act Sakes Alive!! went on hiatus about 10 months ago but have suddenly returned in what appears to be a full band, solo project by founding member and lead singer, Chris Vandeviver.  You can stream a brand new song titled “A Toast To The Often Fabled Heart” right here.  It was tracked entirely by him (except for drums and some of the intro) and its pretty bad ass.

Vandeviver states on his website:

After Dave O’Connor quitting at the end of 2009, the band’s fate was looking grim. Strained finances, relationships, and enthusiasm. I finally decided that it wasn’t worth continuing at the current pace if it wasn’t fun anymore. So after 6 months of digging out of the ruins, Sakes Alive!! is a solo project.

The last release from Sakes Alive!! was a three song digital EP/7-inch titled “Act II” released in October, 2009.

If you haven’t heard the news about Crime In Stereo, I suggest you check it out now.

That being said, New York’s Crime In Stereo has posted a blog titled “The final video…”. Now, you might be asking, “What the heck is this final video?” Well, go find out! It’s like a secret video…so secret, we honestly cannot post it here. So you’re going to have to do a little work (but it’s worth it, for all you Crime In Stereo fans). Just go to their blog post right here. There is a link to the video, but you’re going to need a password to view it. Luckily, these boys have given you the password directly underneath the link.

Crime By Stereo released their final album I Was Trying To Describe You To Someone on Bridge Nine Records in February.