In Memoriam: Rowland S. Howard (The Birthday Party) (1959-2009)

Sad news out of Melbourne, Australia, as guitarist Rowland S. Howard passed away yesterday from liver cancer. He was 50 years old.
Howard joined the Nick Cave-fronted The Birthday Party (then known as The Boys Next Door) in 1978 and was a guitarist and songwriter for the band until their breakup in 1983. Howard’s playing style [...]

Punknews Fest coverage preview

The Fest 8 is nigh! This coming weekend will see an incredible number of punk bands both big and small descend on Gainesville, FL for a weekend of rock, debauchery and beards. A tiny fraction of the lineup includes bands like Snuff, 7 Seconds, Less Than Jake, Youth Brigade, Dillinger Four Samiam, A Wilhelm [...]

Fat to release "Wrecktrospective" box set to celebrate 20th year

Fat Wreck Chords has announced their plans to release a 3xCD boxset titled Wrecktrospective. Originally announced several years ago, but finally getting released, the first cd will contain classic tracks from Fat Wreck Chords back catalog, while disc 2 will contain rare and unreleased tracks, and disc 3 will be the original 2001 Fat Club [...]

Metalocalypse director collaborates with Slayer in new short film

Metalocalypse director Mark Brooks has created a 20-minute DVD titled Playing with Dolls, a 12-episode video-graphic novel that will be included in Slayer’s World Painted Blood Deluxe Edition due out November 3, 2009.
The film blends elements of animation and still-photography into a visual style similar to that of a graphic novel.
The producers explained:

[The [...]

More Fest 8 confirmations

The folks behind The Fest 8 have announced another batch of confirmed bands for this year’s Halloween weekend shenanigans in Gainesville, FL.
Newly confirmed acts include Sakes Alive!!, We Are the Union, Defeater, Hostage Life, Fallen From The Sky, One Win Choice, Anchor Down, Make Do and Mend, American Armada, After the Fall, Captain We’re [...]

The Fest 8 adds Snuff, Jon Snodgrass, Chad Price

The Fest 8 has added a few more bands, including a rare appearance from veteran English punks Snuff. Also added are solo performaces from Jon Snodgrass and Chad Price of Drag the River, Ben Lovett (Chris Wollard and the Ship Thieves / Heavens), Laura Stevenson and the Cans, Lauris Vidal, Damion Suomi, Ready the Jet [...]

Anti-Flag, Faith No More, Rise Against to play Reading and Leeds Festival 2009

Many bands have been confirmed for the forthcoming Reading and Leeds festivals. Some of the acts include: A Day To Remember,
AFI,
Alexisonfire,
Alexisonfire,
Anti-Flag,
Arctic Monkeys,
Atreyu,
A Wilhelm Scream,
Billy Talent,
Black Lips,
Bloc Party,
Bouncing Souls,
Brand New,
Bring Me the Horizon,
Broadway Calls,
Chuck Ragan,
Deftones,
Enter Shikari,
Faith No More,
Fake Problems,
Fall Out Boy,
Fightstar,
Frank Turner,
Funeral For A Friend,
Gallows,
Gaslight Anthem,
Kaiser Chiefs,
Leftover Crack,
Lostprophets,
Mad Caddies,
Madina Lake,
Manchester Orchestra,
Metric,
Municipal Waste,
New Found Glory,
Patrick Wolf,
Polar Bear [...]

Reading Festival Lock Up with Billy Talent, Rise Against, Bouncing Souls, Polar Bear Club

The Lock Up Stage at Reading Festival, run by Mike Davies, host of the BBC Radio 1 Punk Show has been announced for 2009. The Friday show will be headlined by Billy Talent and then Rise Against on Saturday.
The stage will also include:
Bouncing Souls, Mad Caddies, Polar Pear Club, Leftover Crack, The Bronx, A Wilhelm [...]

NOFX / The Flatliners / Snuff (Europe)

NOFX and The Flatliners have confirmed the rest of the dates for their European tour. beginning later this month.

Duncan Redmonds of Snuff/Toy Dolls plans collaborations compilation

Duncan Redmonds of Snuff, Toy Dolls and Billy No Mates fame has announced his solo compilation, Bubble & Squeak. Due out February 17, 2009 on World Records, the album features collaborations with NOFX, Leatherface, Hi-Standard, Hardskin, Nomeansno, Guns’n’Wankers and others.
Duncan explains:

The project was started in 2004 by handing out a load of riffs to [...]