Man, has it really been 9 years since I heard Fat Lip for the first time? Since then a lot of great music been released by a lot of great punk bands, and without Fat Lip, I’d never know any of them. For me, Sum 41 was the bridge between radio and the underground, and lets face it, without bands like theirs a lot of you wouldn’t be reading this website in the first place.

Shockingly, nearly a decade since my first exposure to Sum 41, the band is still regularly pushing out new songs. Their latest ditty, Scumfuck, was unintentionally leaked, which is proof enough that people are still chomping at the bit to hear new music from this Canadian threesome. The punk rock elitists out there may scoff at the band’s mention but the rest will agree that this band has put out more than a few great punk tunes which is why I was stoked to get the chance to talk to Steve-O (drummer) and Cone (Bassist) about the upcoming album, touring, and more.

Check out the interview here.

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If you aren’t familiar with modern day punk legends Authority Zero, it’s about time you crawl out of the cave from which you apparently dwell in and perk up those ears. The band plays high energy reggae-infused punk rock and have put out several solid albums during their 15 years of existence.

I recently saw Authority Zero play in a small venue located in Orlando called Backbooth and had the pleasure of interviewing their incredibly down to Earth vocalist, Jason DeVore before they hit the stage. We talked about the band’s new album Stories of Survival, their new record label, Arizona’s new immigration law and future music related endeavors.

Check out the full interview here.

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Vancouver’s political punk rock act The Rebel Spell have titled their upcoming album “It’s A Beautiful Future”.  We’re not sure when it’s officially coming out but word is there is a 4 song sampler they’re handing out at shows and we’re working on getting our hands on it.  Until then we can all content ourselves with at least one new song titled Feel The Same which you can stream by going here and clicking the player on the right hand side (there’s also a review of the 4 songs from the sampler on the page).

The Rebel Spell released the EP Four Songs About Freedom on Clandestine Collective in 2007.

Pop punk act Rufio are releasing their upcoming album Anybody Out There on July 27th.  If you’re dying to get a taste of what’s to come you can head over to Amazon where they are streaming 30 second clips of the entire album.  You can also stream a complete new song called Little World on their MySpace page.

Rufio released their last album, The Comfort of Home, on Nitro Records in 2005.

Smoke Or Fire are currently on their way to the studio to record their next full-length.  The band are Chicago bound, heading to Atlas Studios to be exact, to work with Matt Allison.  Allison was also responsible for producing their killer 2007 effort, This Sinking Ship.  Expect daily updates from the studio.

The band released the 7 inch, Prehistoric Knife Fight, earlier this year through Fat Wreck.

“Conversation with Punx: A Spiritual Dialogue” is set to be launched on September 2.  Over the past six years, writer Bianca Valentino has conversed with the wider punk and hardcore community over topics including spirituality, life, creativity and the subculture that is punk.  The result is 60 never before seen interviews with members of Black Flag, Minor Threat, Bad Religion, Sick Of It All, Bad Brains, The Bouncing Souls, Screeching Weasel, US Bombs, Agnostic Front, Strung Out, Operation Ivy, Avail, The Mr T. Experience, Tiger Army and many more.

The project with be released as a limited edition 12-issue zine series, hand-bound with hand-screen printed covers.  The first issue includes the musings of Don Letts, Ian Mackaye (Minor Threat/Fugazi), Omar Rodriguez-Lopez (At The Drive-In/The Mars Volta), Johnny Sierra (The Death Set), Greg Attonito (The Bouncing Souls) & Shanti Wintergate.

Each day until the launch, the  Conversations… website will be updated with details about one of the conversations.  Upon completion of the series, the work will be released in book form.  Head here for full details about the project.

The Measure (SA) and New Bruises have just released a split 7-inch on Kiss Of Death Records.  The release contains four tracks from The Measure (SA) and two new tracks from New Bruises and you can download it for free right here (you have to go through the shopping cart checkout process which takes a few clicks but its worth it).

Here’s what Kiss Of Death had to say about the release:

The Measure (SA) bring a lot of different vibes to their side of this split 7″. Featuring a bouncy giddy-up tempo on the opening track, a raging second track that sounds like a more pissed off Lifetime, a jangly head-bobbing anthem for the 3rd track and a dynamic, sometimes fast, sometimes slow closer, The Measure (SA) showcase a wide gamut of the tricks that must literally be busting out of their sleeves. Dueling male and female vocals create even more diversity here on these super catchy tunes. Don’t get me wrong. This stuff is still cohesive and fitting four songs onto one side of a 7″ means it’ll be over before you know it and you’ll be begging for more. New Bruises are back on side B of this split. You know what to expect from these guys at this point right? It’s somewhere between fun punk rock anthems and all that good 90s indie/emo. You know, before the idea of emo became bastardized by a bunch of weirdos with really bad haircuts who cut themselves. Now if we can just get Bryon and the rest of the boys to record another full-length…

Check out the track list here.

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The Maine posted a behind the scenes video from the shoot of their upcoming music video for Inside Of You.  The song appears in the bands recent release, Black And White, released July 13th on Warner Brothers Records.

The official music video will premiere on July on 19th but until then check out the behind the scenes video here.

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Well not sure if anybody saw this one coming but I Am Ghost has called it quits.  No drama, no deaths, just time to move on.  The band explains in this statement.

I Am Ghost released their last album Those We Leave Behind on Epitaph in 2008.

UPDATE: The band has announced that they will be continuing on sans their former front-man and under a new band name.  More info to come as things develop.

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Avenged Sevenfold have premiered the “clean version” music video for the title track off their coming album Nightmare.  Supposedly the non-edited version will be coming soon but until then check this one out here.

Nightmare will hit stores July 27th, released on Warner Bros. Records.