Four Year Strong recently played an acoustic set for ATP prior to their performance at London O2’s Islington Academy. You can watch the band perform acoustic versions of their songs ‘Wasting Time (Eternal Summer)’ here and ‘One Step At A Time’ here.

Four Year Strong released Enemy Of The World in March on Universal Republic Records.  Read the Dying Scene review here and our interview with the band here.

Ladies and gentlemen, the moment has finally arrived: The Gaslight Anthem‘s album American Slang, the highly anticipated follow up to 2008’s The ’59 Sound, is now streaming in it’s entirety on NPR’s First Listen.  You can listen to it here.

The album is set to be released June 15th on SideOneDummy Records and will be streaming on the site until that date. The band is gearing up to hit the road in support of the release so be sure to check out their Dying Scene shows page for dates and locations.

**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.

“Victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival.”
-Winston Churchill

True talent shines through diversity. Sadly, in a world full of watered-down and stagnant music we are exposed to a daily does of your standard “run-of-the-mill” bands. It pains me to say it, but it’s true. Thankfully, with enough passion and respect for more than strictly one genre of music, we do from time-to-time get treated with a band that is willing to step outside of their musical boundaries. In this case, that band is Mesa, Arizona’s Authority Zero.

With a strong following, solid discography and some very popular singles in tow, this band has not only survived the consistent flood of bad music to hit our shores, they have accepted it and fought through it. All the while, making sure they have some of their own stories to tell.

On their latest album, “Stories of Survival” they bring back the reggae, skate punk sound we have all grown to know and love. With their first single, “Get It Right” currently hitting the airwaves, it’s easy to see that this album will become just as influential and memorable as any of their last efforts and will hopefully garner them the new fans they rightfully deserve.

“Get It Right” showcases that beneath the musical layers of this band, there is always that one song that resonates much louder than the rest. A perfect blend of hooks, melody and chorus with a really good guitar solo and I think it is safe to say that my stand-out track from the album has been found. Ironically, this song asks the question, “Maybe someday, I’ll get it right?” After hearing this song, I’m pretty sure the band just answered their own question.

“Stories of Survival” begins fittingly with Winston Churchill and one of his many famous quotes, this one focusing, of course, on the topic at hand…victory. Like all album introductions of past, you know that following an introduction you have to launch an album with a fast & furious show starter. I introduce to you, the first of many of the heavily punk-influenced tracks you will eventually hear, “The New Pollution”. A small taste of what you fist-pumping, studded jacket sporting rabble rousers will soon be chanting as you destroy the dance floor. Once you find yourself craving more, Authority Zero force feeds you some more punk rock directly to your ear drums with tracks such as, “A Day to Remember”, “Break the Mold” and “No Way Home”.

The album carries on with the diversity I expected, rock & roll executed in just the right way. The melodic working-man’s anthem, “Big Bad World” proves once again that lyrics can really make a song. “Crashland” with it’s morse-code introduction, slips quickly into the ‘notable songs on the album’ category virtually unscathed. While, “Liberatededucation” takes all of the essential Authority Zero elements: punk, rock and reggae and blends them all seamlessly.

While I listened to this album, I wondered when I would find the spanish-stylings or heavily reggae-influenced song or two that accompanies every album of theirs. When the stereo finally hit, “Movement” and “The Remedy” my answer had been found. “The Remedy” reminding me of why I got into this band in the first place.

Musically, lyrically and visually I really enjoy this album. As a fellow graphic-designer, drummer Jim Wilcox (who runs Ransom Apparel and designed this album) really impresses me. The artwork for this release is some of the best I have seen in years and I say that with one hundred percent honesty. That man has a gift! Come to think of it, I was so impressed by the artwork I completely over-looked the fact that this is the official first release on Viking Funeral Records, founded partially by Fletcher of Pennywise fame.

Authority Zero has always been (in my eyes) one of those blatantly talented bands. A group of experienced musicians backed by a strong vocalist with smart lyrics and you know that no matter what the cost or where this world takes us, they will always survive.

Another day of recording for Underoath‘s new album means another artsy video update has released! This one features their new drummer, although it doesn’t really show much of him playing… In any case, you can click here to watch and you can catch the last update video here.

The band hopes to release the yet-untitled album before the end of 2010. Underoath’s last release, Lost In The Sound Of Separation, came out last September on Tooth & Nail Records.

Rise Against are headlining Seattle’s premiere Arts & Music Festival, Bumbershoot 2010. The other bands that are playing one of the other 6 stages are Billy Bragg, the Bouncing Souls, Motion City Soundtrack, and Seattle natives This Providence. You can check out the full list of confirmed bands here.
Bumbershoot is scheduled to take place September 4-6th in Seattle and will feature the best in music, film, comedy, spoken word, dance, theatre, performance, and visual arts. You can find more information on the Bumbershoot website.

Long Island hardcore act This Is Hell have a released a full album stream for their upcoming release The Weight Of The World, set to be released June 8th via Rise Records. You can check it out here.

The band is currently set to play a couple of shows. Check their Dying Scene shows page to find out when you can catch them.

According to EIL.com, which claims to be “the world’s biggest online record shop for new, rare, collectible, used and hard-to-find CDs, The Offspring is apparently putting out a Japanese exclusive CD containing remixes, live performances and rare recordings. The CD currently has no title, but is due out July 28th.

Last week, band members Dexter Holland and Noodles mentioned to Loveline that the band is now taking a break from recording their upcoming album (possibly titled “Menagerie of Dildos”) in preparation for the new tour. When asked what the new record will sound like, Noodles said it it’s going to be a continuation of their latest album (2008’s “Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace”), while Dexter describes it as “straight-up rockin'”.

This summer, The Offspring (along with 311) will be kicking off an 18 date run of US amphitheaters in this year’s 2010 Unity Tour. Check out dates and locations here.

UK punk act Turn It Red are offering a free download of their first EP Don’t Cross The Streams right here.

The band recently released their new EP All Time Will Show.

Sweden’s folk-punk group Tommy Gustavsson And The Idots has finished recording their latest album for Warbird Entertainment.  No word on an official release date or album name but according to Gustavsson “it’s gonna rock!”

You can check out a few of the band’s tracks on their MySpace page.

Rise Against have posted a fan appreciation music video to the track From Heads Unworthy.  I guess it’s more a photo slideshow to music but it’s still worth a watch.

“We put together a whole bunch of pictures that people have emailed us and some that we and our crew took ourselves while on the road, and created a slideshow of our adventures on the stage and off the stage in the last year”

Check it out here.

I was completely surprised to see myself appear in this video.  Look for me at minute 1:07 with the band after a show last July in Florida… so Epic!

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