Wowsers, what a time to be alive! There is so much happening in punk rock land it’s not even funny!
First up, it seems Gwen Stefani has bid adieu to her No Doubt bandmates in favour of devoting all her energy to her solo career, new relationship with American country music superstar Blake Shelton and judging/mentoring position on the US edition of The Voice. Sure, she needs to do what feels right for her, but her solo material has gone from AMAZING (her debut album Love Angel Music Baby was banging!) to mediocre (The Sweet Escape was patchy at best) and woeful (her last two solo singles were cringeworthy at best- writing lyrics is NOT her strong suit, so why bother trying NOW?). And leaving her bandmates in the lurch? I don’t know it that’s cool…
BUT, it’s not like they’re sitting around twiddling their thumbs… They’re already writing new material for the new (as yet un-named) band they’ve formed with AFI vocalist Davey Havok. I kid you not. The emo/goth/former hardcore punk rocker teaming up with a band with their roots firmly planted in ska and pop? Could be VERY interesting! Davey seems like a guy who secretly would LOVE to be a pop star, so who knows? This could be his big chance!
Speaking of Davey, he and Jade Puget have announced plans for a brand new Blaq Audio album. For those unfamiliar with Blaq Audio, their sound would probably be best described as goth/industrial/dance/pop in the vein of Australian outfit The Presets and Italian gay/pop artist Michael Bow. Busy, busy lads!
Wanna hear the weirdest touring partnership in the history of modern music? Satirical hair metal jokers Steel Panther are hitting the road in the UK for a round of shows with Canadian pop punkers Bowling For Soup and the rather awful cock rockers Buckcherry. Yuck. It’s an even weirder pairing than the Spazzys opening for Marilyn Manson in Melbourne back in the day!
Californian punk rockers Total Chaos are in the country! Make sure you see them when they hit the Rev in Footscray this month with Wolfpack!
Stay tuned for news of a one-off club night that’ll be playing remixes of your favourite heavy music acts. For real. A super interesting experience at the very least!
Still no word of Australian tour dates for the newly reformed Guns N’ Roses, despite selling out stadiums in Las Vegas and South America. I wonder if our weak dollar has anything to do with it? Hmmmm… Their 1993 Australian tour with Skid Row and Rose Tattoo was one of the greatest tours this country has ever seen!
Slovenian punk rock festival, Punk Rock Holiday, has unveiled the final, complete line-up for this year. Like every other festival that isn’t in Australia, it’s absolutely INSANE. Descendents. NOFX.
Millencolin. Jello Biafra. Agnostic Front. FLAG. Bouncing Souls. Terror. The Flatliners. Off With Their Heads. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Meanwhile, Australia has…nothing. Fair enough!
Luckily, we have a thriving little local scene to count on. Oh, and Frenzal Rhomb seem to be touring heaps, too!
See? I told you a lots been going on, more next issue! Love yas!
Written by Christopher Cruz
