California punk rockers The Offspring have been in the studio for a while, working on their 9th studio album with producer Bob Rock. Frontman Dexter Holland issued the following update on the message board of the band’s website:

“Working with Bob Rock has been the best experience that we have had in the studio. Bob is obviously a great producer, but beyond that Bob and we get along and sort of see the record making process similarly..the songs sometimes take a little longer to finish but the end result is far better for taking the time and is something we’re very proud of.

Right now we’re working on a new batch of songs..they’re all in different stages, some are just started and some are nearly finished. The only song title I have right now is one called ‘It’s All Good’..will it make the record? Who knows! We are going in the studio today, everyday for the next two weeks..we’re going to try to get something new finished and ready to play live on tour this summer..we’ll keep you posted!”

The new album will be the follow up to 2008’s Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace. No word on title or release date, but we anticipate the album to be released sometime this year.

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

Boston post-hardcore/screamo band Vanna has posted a complete set recorded live at the Canal Club in Richmond, VA on March 15th, 2010. To see the video in three parts, click here.

The guys are currently touring Europe supporting their latest album, A New Hope, released on Epitaph Records this March. They will return to the States later this summer as part of the Warped Tour. Give their tour dates a glance on their Dying Scene shows page.

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The Great Explainer have announced the release of their upcoming 10″ EP “The Way Things Swell” on Chunksaah Records, due out June 13th.

Previously announced as a 7-inch and recorded with Pete Steinkopf from the Bouncing Souls, the EP will be released as a one-sided 10″ on colored vinyl.

The band has upcoming shows with Dead to Me and Lemuria and is currently planning a tour for later this year. Keep checking their Dying Scene shows page for more dates!

Swedish punk act, Splitside, are streaming another new track, The Great Escape, from their upcoming album, This Sinking Ship (listen here).

This Sinking Ship is scheduled for a 12 May 2010 release. Every day until the album’s launch, the band will be releasing a new track to their MySpace.

This Sinking Ship is the follow-up to the band’s 2007 release, Our Days Are Numbered, both of which released on Knuckle Ride 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.

This review focuses on The Octopussys side of the split CD with State Of Mine. The Octopussys have been around the scene longer than State of Mine and carry more of a fast-pop-punk sound. These guys surprised me as I had never heard of them before this split. “Burger King” opens with tech style guitars that hit you right away. Thibaut is the vocalist and he brings us more of a poppier voice that definitely compliments the style of music. He has this raspy’ness to his vocals and you can hear a little bit of a Belgium accent (which is always good in my books). In general, when thinking of Octopussys, think of Mxpx, (older) Slick Shoes, The Starting Line…and add some NUFAN for dessert.

“Succubus” is next and the guitars really struck me at around the .35 second mark (very melodic and original) and they continue on with it in the song afterward. But that’s not all, some Forus style guitar attacks are included as well, sick stuff! *Side note: Check out the band’s cover of “Maniac” on their myspace!* A darn good track.”Burning Calories is Bad for Business” flows perfectly with the previous track therefore it would be (and surely is) a nice connecty bit live. The best part of this song is the vocal pattern that Thibaut has at around the .55 second mark. Very strong outro as well, guitar-monies galore! “State of Emergency” brings the speed – simple as that, and is quite Forus like. I was waiting for this type of track when listening to their side of the split and I was happy that it was as strong as I had envisioned it. The more and more you listen to the vocals, the more you appreciate them. A point that had to be mentioned. “I Fucked Up Again”ends this release with a “single” type song about life in general, and relationships. I dig the drums on this track, good ride work and blast beats are added which always makes me smile. I didn’t expect to see that element added to this track, compared to the others for example, so it’s a good idea by the band. In closing, the piano can be heard and it brings the final touch: punk can also have glamor. Enjoy.

For the review for the State Of Mine side of the split go here.

Bad Religion have posted a video trailer for their upcoming full-length live album, 30 Years Live, as well as announcing May 18th as the release date. To view the video click here.

The album will be released for free to fans online, and will include two tracks off the upcoming studio effort to follow up to 2007’s New Maps Of Hell.

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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 the legendary old school punk act Buzzcocks.

According to legend (ahem… Wikipedia) The name “Buzzcocks” was chosen by band members Howard Devoto and Pete Shelley after reading the headline “it’s the buzz, cocks!” in a review of the TV series Rock Follies in Time Out magazine. The “buzz” is the excitement of playing on stage; “cock” is Manchester slang meaning “youngster”. They thought it captured the excitement of the Sex Pistols and nascent punk scene…. Makes sense to us!

Check out last week’s Band Name Origin story: Blink 182

The Jukebox Romantics have just released a new video for their track Death Sentence off of their recent self-titled full-length debut on Altercation Records. Click here to watch the video.

The New York ska-punk band is currently on the road and will be joining up with the Warped Tour later this summer. For dates check out their Dying Scene shows page.

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Folk-punk staples Defiance, Ohio have announced information on their long-awaited upcoming album Midwestern Minutes. The 11-Song album will be released on LP/CD by No Idea Records on July 6th. You can check out one of the new tracks, Hairpool, on the band’s No Idea profile page. For a complete tracklisting, click here.

Bassist/Singer Ryan Woods had the following to say about the direction of the album:

“I’m not sure what it will turn out like, but I do feel it is a bit of a change. I think we were a lot more careful in arranging the songs, for example, a lot more thought-out harmonies, some songs have lots of strings, some none at all. There is a lot more use of the piano, a Wurlitzer, and a return of the upright bass on some songs. A couple of the songs are quite theatrical in content and orchestrated musically. In contrast, I think a couple songs are also more “punk” sounding than the last record.  We are very excited! I feel like we really worked as a group to make the songs and I think it will be a really good representation of where we are as a band now, for better or for worse.”

This will be the band’s first release since 2007’s The Fear, The Fear, The Fear.

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These guys sure do a lot of touring. Fresh off of their AP Tour, Michigan rockers Every Avenue will hit the road once more for the Motel 6 “Rock Yourself To Sleep” tour.

The band will headline with Sing It Loud, The Secret Handshake, and There For Tomorrow joining them in support for the summer-long tour.

The tour starts June 10th in PA and ends July 29th in MI. Click here to check the full tour dates.

The boys are currently on the 2010 AP Tour. Checktheir Dying Scene shows page to see when they’ll in your town. [Read more…]