“The last time we were here,” declared Deryck Whibley from the stage, “two girls came up and made out.” The pronouncement by Sum 41’s singer/guitarist Tuesday at CBGB was met with screams and raised hands, an indication that several fans were willing to participate in a reenactment. “This time we have to top it,” the adorable, spiky shorn frontman added, and approached bassist Cone McCaslin, tilted his head and parted his lips. Psych! Both pulled away at the last second. “No way!” they said in unison. The fourth stop on the band’s Sum On Your Face club tour wasn’t filled… Read more »
Should Sum 41 decide to record a cover while working on their second full-length, John Cougar Mellencamp’s “Hurts So Good” might be a fitting selection. In addition to tracking the follow-up to last year’s All Killer No Filler, the Canadian quartet are creating an EP by their alter ego, Pain for Pleasure. They hope to have both releases out in late November. Fans may remember Pain for Pleasure as the group who looked frighteningly similar to Sum 41, only dressed like metalheads, performing their namesake song as a coda to the “Fat Lip” video. But this time out, the pop-punks’… Read more »
The song “One Little Victory” starts with flailing militaristic drums, followed by a churning down-tuned guitar riff that drips with angst. It sounds like Tool covering P.O.D. Strangely, it’s Rush, a band that was around when Judas Priest and Iron Maiden were considered “new metal” and Rush members Geddy Lee (vocals/bass), Alex Lifeson (guitar) and Neil Peart (drums) were articulate mavericks carving out their own iconoclastic space. Some things never change. The track is from Vapor Trails, due May 14, and it’s a major triumph for Rush. Not only does it represent a commitment to remain sonically relevant, it marks… Read more »
Anthrax never wanted this kind of publicity. The seminal New York metal band’s name is all over the press these days for all the wrong reasons – a small outbreak of the bio-terrorist disease of choice in Florida has an already understandably edgy America in panic mode. Set to launch their Operation Enduring Metal tour with Judas Priest in early 2002 (“the tour the terrorists tried to stop”), the group has let it be known they have no immediate designs on a name change. A statement from the band jokingly begins, “In light of current events, we are changing the… Read more »
Clear Channel has identified 150 songs that are considered to be “lyrically inappropriate” for airplay in the wake of the terror attacks carried out in the U.S. on Tuesday, September 11. A Clear Channel spokesperson has confirmed that the list has been circulated among its stations across the country. The lyrical content targeted by the list includes any references to death, flying, September, or general destruction. The popular (and highly political) band Rage Against The Machine received the dubious honor of having their entire catalogue on the list. Pam Taylor, a spokesperson for Clear Channel stations in the San Francisco… Read more »
Making a big party even bigger, P. Diddy, Kid Rock, Fred Durst and Ja Rule will join the roster of artists performing August 1 at MTV’s 20th birthday celebration in New York. MTV also said Wednesday (July 25) that Naughty by Nature, Tommy Lee and former Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford will perform at the bash, dubbed “MTV20: Live and Almost Legal.” Mariah Carey, Jane’s Addiction, TLC, Run-DMC, Billy Idol, Method Man, Mary J. Blige, Sum41, Busta Rhymes and the Neptunes will also perform at the party, which the network will broadcast live from Manhattan’s Hammerstein Ballroom. The event is… Read more »
Today we’ve got the scoop on AJR’s new tour, Bebe Rexha & JinJoo at Wrestlemania 37 and highlights from the 21st Annual Black Reel Awards.