Everybody’s favourite noisemakers (the) Melvins will release a new album in April 2013.
Released via Mike Patton’s Ipecac label, the thirteen track effort finds Buzz ‘King Buzzo’ Osborne and co putting their stamp on works originally by David Bowie, The Jam, Roxy Music, Queen and The Kinks. Each cover is a collaboration with a guest artist and those roped in to help include Mudhoney’s Mark Arm, Jello Biafra and cult film maker John Waters.
In an age where band’s debut albums are expected to be an instant hit or record companies drop them like a lead weight, it seems inconceivable that, at the beginning of 2013, Brad are celebrating over twenty years together. An on-again, off-again project for Pearl Jam guitarist Stone Gossard, Brad have always received mixed feelings from PJ fans, but those who love the band really do love them. Perhaps more inconceivable is the fact that – despite their 1993 debut ‘Shame’ retaining a special place in the hearts of their fans – it took the band two decades to embark on their first full European tour.
It has been reported that OFF!’s upcoming tour dates have all been cancelled.
Lead vocalist Keith Morris recently slipped into a diabetic coma and is taking time out to recover. In addition to being OFF!’s frontman, Morris is also involved with Flag, a band including other former Black Flag members. Flag have been booked to appear at the Punk Rock Bowling Festival in Las Vegas in May. So far, this – and Flag’s other prior shows – remain unaffected.
Despite being a little rough around the edges, Dead Wolf Club’s debut album included some interesting musical ideas. There was strong sense of a band feeling their way around, throwing out ideas in an attempt to find out which ones would stick, but for those listeners who persevered, three or four genuinely great numbers could be found within. Looking beyond the truly awful sleeve art, their second release ‘RAR’ builds on the promise of the debut’s more focused moments, essentially leaving behind an album which shows off a band with a stronger sense of vision.
Featuring three ex-members of Panic Cell, Seven Deadly are a five piece metal band from the UK. Although they credit themselves as a thrash metal band, their overall sound isn’t as rooted within the classic eighties subgenre as some (Cry Havoc, we’re looking at you!). Perhaps more than thrash, the riffs on this debut EP often evoke the sounds of Pantera styled power grooves, as well as more than a passing resemblance to the mighty Lamb of God, while vocally, their use of filters and clean melodies puts them more in line with Killswitch Engage and the twenty first century metalcore scene. In many respects, though, these musical tags are unimportant; it’s whether the music makes an impression that’s of most importance – and from a huge metal perspective, even though it’s hugely generic,‘The Allegiance EP’ mostly pushes the right buttons.