Anti-flag frontman Justin Sane will be performing at an Earth Day event in New York City on the 23rd as well as recording a solo album within the next few months, according to the band’s website.

Justin plans on being active online and interacting with fans. Here’s what Justin had to say about joining the social revolution.

You can keep up to date on my progress on my newly created MySpace page. In little time I’ll be working on a Facebook page and a Twitter feed as well…For those of you who can’t travel to NYC, I’m eager to connect with you and hear your voice. Post your comments on my MySpace as a first step towards us connecting with each other. As much as I miss rocking with the lads in Anti-Flag, I’m psyched to have the opportunity to play some solo shows, record a solo record and have a chance to better connect with all of you via cyber space and in person. Don’t be a stranger!

Justin’s last album Life, Love and the Pursuit of Justice was released in 2003, as well as a six-track EP These are the Days, released in 2001.

It’s new music Tuesday! Lagwagon frontman Joey Cape has released another song titled No Mirror off of his upcoming work-in-progress solo album Doesn’t Play Well With Others.

The song can be bought in his online store and is the 4th song off his new album to be released. You can also read the lyrics to the songs although the lyrics for No Mirror haven’t been uploaded yet.

Each month, Joey will be releasing one song from the new recording until all 12 have been delivered at which point the CD/LP will be unleashed.  The first 3 tracks can still be purchased on Joey’s website.

Maryland hardcore band Trapped Under Ice have premiered the music video for their song Believe and you can check it out right here.  The song appears on the band’s latest album Secrets of the World which was released in 2009 on Reaper Records.

The band has a handful of shows coming up next month so check out their Dying Scene Shows page for dates and locations.

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Richmond, VA, straight edge hardcore group Down To Nothing have announced their first California show in two years – they’ll be playing this summer’s Sound And Fury Festival.

The festival, which announced the first part of its lineup on Thursday, will be held at Earl Warren Fairgrounds in Santa Barbra on July 23-25. Down To Nothing joins Sick Of It All, Heartsounds , and several other heavy hitters in the hardcore scene at Sound And Fury – see the first lineup announcement here. Another announcement with more bands will be made in May. All in all, there will be over 50 bands at the festival. Weekend passes for Sound And Fury are available here for $65, for now.

Down To Nothing released a 7″ All My Sons on Reaper Records earlier this year.

Punk rock and hockey go together like peanut butter and jelly – fast, aggressive, and not for the faint of heart. If you’re heading to the LA Kings home playoff games against the Vancouver Canucks, you’re in for a treat, because The Briggs will be performing before the home games tonight and on April 21. Their song This is LA has been played before and during Kings games all season – it’s off The Briggs‘ 2008 LP Come All You Madmen, which was released on SideOneDummy Records.

And if anyone can get a circle pit going in the stands, I’ll buy you any one album you want. Post a video of it in the comments.

Ever have an idea for an awesome Thrice t-shirt? You’re in luck – the band has announced a contest to design the t-shirts that will be sold on this summer’s headlining tour. The band is offering $200 in cold, hard cash as well as two tickets to the tour date of your choice if your design is selected. You’ll also score a couple of the shirts for yourself – after all, it’ll be your design. From the sounds of it, they’ll be picking more than one winner, too.

To enter the contest, email your art and a layout of how it’ll look on a shirt to thricebay@gmail.com before May 1.

Thrice is currently on tour with Manchester Orchestra – get all the dates for that tour and this summer’s headlining tour here.

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Death to False Hope Records made Arliss Nancy‘s new EP Truckstop Roses available for free download.  Sort of a cross breed of rock, country and, of course punk rock, the band features members of 10-4 Eleanor and you can snatch up their album right here.

PS.  – The EP features guest vocals from Drag the River’s Jon Snodgrass.

**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.

Canadian bands have long contributed more than their share to the global punk and hardcore scene – take Comeback Kid, Alexisonfire, and Real McKenzies for examples. Ontario’s Cancer Bats are doing their country (and the rest of us) proud with their latest full-length release, Bears, Mayors, Scraps, & Bones, which came out April 13 on Good Fight. If you were wondering, the title is a compilation of each of the band members’ nicknames.

B, M, S, & B starts off slow but abrasive – the opening track Sleep This Away gives you an idea of the band’s strong sludge influences. But they mix it up pretty quickly, with the second song, Trust No One, cranking the tempo up without losing any of the energy. Throughout the album, they go back and forth between those two themes – heavy, slow sludge metal on tracks like Darkness and Doomed To Fail, then right back into their frantic hardcore sound with Snake Mountain and Fake Gold. The constant across both styles is that their riffs and lyrics never lose intensity, which allows them to move between the two, even within a song as on Raised Right and Dead Wrong, without missing a step. Cancer Bats close things out with a cover of the Beastie Boys’ Sabotage that had me on my feet and ready to punch walls.

Overall, the album has a solid sound and keeps you interested by kicking up and then slowing down the tempos. I would compare it to Every Time I Die’s albums Gutter Phenomenon and Hot Damn!, since all three records change tempos without losing their intensities. Both bands also share thick but aggressive riffs on downtuned guitars, fronted by a mixture of screaming and clean vocals from a single vocalist.

Cancer Bats are definitely a band to keep on your radar – they’re touring this spring with Norma Jean and none other than Every Time I Die after a headlining European tour.

Big thanks to Jen at Listen Harder for setting me up with a copy of the album!

Old school hardcore band Outspoken have announced plans for a handful of reunion shows. The Huntington Beach band said in a MySpace blog,

“Yes, it’s true, Outspoken will be playing at least one show this summer in Southern California and one on the East Coast in late 2010. We have been practicing for the past 3 months and things have come together well… We want to hear from all our friends and can’t wait to play and see you all again. PS. Mike is insisting we play Salt Lake City, UT.”

Outspoken is known for their boisterous hardcore sound and socially aware lyrics. The band called it quits in 1994 and has played a few reunion shows over the years.  In 2005, Indecision Records put out a complete discography of Outspoken recordings titled Spotlight with never before heard songs and a complete remix of the “A Light In the Dark” record.

The release of Blacklist Royals upcoming album Semper Liberi is but a month away and to whet your appetite the band has leaked the track Howling At The Moon right here on Dying Scene.

If you’re unfamiliar with the punk ‘n roll tunes of these Nashville natives, now is a great chance to remedy that.  And speaking of “remedies”, being that it’s 4/20 Nat (guitar/vocals) thought it would be prudent to share with you all his recipe for “Weed Shine”.  What is Weed Shine?  Good question.  Here’s what Nat had to say about it:

I’ve drank Weed Shine twice in my life. The first time was at The Fest Seven when my friend and his wife brought some down to Gainesville, and the result was me projectile-vomiting the gyro I had eaten before our show all over the Holiday Inn. The second time was on New Year’s Eve the same year, and again the result was me projectile-vomiting the sushi I had eaten earlier that night all over the world famous Matt Drastic’s newly remodeled bathroom. Though both stories have the same ending, what happened in-between was totally fucking trippy. So if you’re interested in riding a wolf through the Milky Way and spending some time having out of body experiences, then celebrate 4/20 by making up a fresh batch of this shit. And hell, anyone who wants to bring your boys in Blacklist Royals a little when we’re on tour next month is sure to get some free merch and tons of love in return, or at least thrown up on.

Semper Liberi is being released on vinyl and digitally May 25th on Paper + Plastick.  The band will be hitting the road in support of the album in mid May so check out their Dying Scene Shows page for dates and locations.

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