Wednesday, March 31, 2010

THE END SIGNS DANZIG!

SLC-to-Brooklyn transplants The End Records have signed the Prince of Darkness himself, Glenn Danzig.

The zig's first album in six years, Deth Red Sabaoth, is slated for a June 22 release.

You can find more info on the record at The End's website.

UNITED BLOOD FOOTAGE UP NOW

Now that every cell phone's a video camera -- and every hardcore kid a "videographer" -- live footage abounds. You can click back to my epicly terrible iPhone footage for proof.

But once upon a time, we had to load VHS tapes directly into Wayne-And-Garth's-basement-studio-looking behemoths to do the same... The term "VHS" probably has many of you scratching your foreheads right now, so I'll move on.  

After last weekend's United Blood Fest in Richmond, live videos swarmed the web. We've compiled some of the finer footage for your viewing enjoyment. If you recorded your own, or you've come across some quality videos, let us know!

Alpha & Omega from BalboaTower on YouTube. Also Featured: Title Fight and Cold World.



Harm's Way from KO Films on Vimeo. Also Featured: Full sets from The Rival Mob, War Hungry, Blacklisted, Foundation and more. (P.S. Harm's Way is now playing the Rotting Out show in Ogden!)



Title Fight from Keara507 on YouTube. Also Featured: Cruel Hand, Free Spirit and Fire & Ice.




Anyone...

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

METALLICA - CREEPING DEATH

Passover began last night at sundown. Once upon a time, when Metallica was good, they wrote a song about it. Enjoy!


Metallica - Creeping Death

CESAR | MySpace Video

NEW MUSIC: FAR

Far will release a new album through Vagrant Records on May 25 called At Night We Live. They've posted a new track at their website called "Deafening."

You have to enter your e-mail address to hear it, but it's worth it if you're a fan of heavy, mid-90s alt-metal. Or if you're just curious if Far still has it.

Get it here.

FREE HELLFISH SAMPLER

Head over to the Hellfish website to download a free sampler that includes rare or unreleased tracks from Integrity, Hour of the Wolf, Pale Creation, Rot In Hell, Expire, Darker Days, The Mistake, Outrage, Vegas, La Dispute, Monument to Thieves, Wolf Whistle, The Effort, and Dangers.

108, ON THE OTHER HAND, NOT FUCKING DEAD

Remember last week when we wrote about 108 breaking up?

Well, you can probably ignore that. Turns out the everyone (including the band) spoke too soon and the resurrection of 108 is already underway.

"108 has not broken up. Rasaraja [aka Robert Fish] has left the band, but 108 will continue in full force with a new direction and focus. We will be writing, recording and playing shows this year to support 18.61 and create new music."

So does this mean that Vic is back on vocals? Who knows? Apparently no one.

PUNK ART

Nowhere near Salt Lake City, but still a cool idea. If anyone from California reads this and has seen or is checking this out, let us know how it is.


I bet there's enough old Salt Lake fliers, photos and such that we could do one of these here. Don't know how much interest there would be, but it would still be kind of fun.

REFUSED STILL FUCKING DEAD

Last week, someone updated the Refused website and sent the internet into a frenzy. People began speculating that based on the simple "coming soon" message on the front (and only) page, Refused would be reforming.

NME then threw a little more gas on the fire when it published a small report from a radio DJ that was basically his own speculation from the websites message.

This led to threads on every music messageboard of people discussing, ranting and raving why they just lost all respect for anyone in the band.

After a few days of Messageboard/Fan chaos, someone at Buddyhead finally got a hold of former Refused frontman Dennis Lyxzen who cleared things up.

“No, we are not reforming. Me and David are going on tour next week with our new Hardcore band Ac4 – sleeping on kids floors and playing doordeals, that seems to be more in line with what we deserve… haha."

Turns out that the updated website is merely the beginning of a marketing push for Epitaph to release a special edition of The Shape of Punk to Come.

So, sorry to everyone that thought they'd be buying tickets to a Refused reunion this year. Apparently it's not in the cards. Yet anyway. I wouldn't rule it out completely.

In the meantime, check out Dennis and David's new band AC4. Good stuff if you're into fast, punk/hardcore.

Monday, March 29, 2010

NEW MUSIC: MONUMENT TO THIEVES

If you're a fan of that post-posi/pre-fashion, Orange County sound ala Adamantium, early 18v or early Throwdown, Monument to Thieves is a must-listen. 

And while the mascara of that whole fashioncore mess remains on vocalist Keith Barney's hands, he seems to be making amends, returning to his early writing style while penning insightful lyrics about social struggle and political wrongdoing -- not to mention citing His Hero is Gone as the influence for both the band's namesake and ethical stances.    

Stream Monument to Thieves' forthcoming 12" -- complete with very '97 samples about gay marriage, corporate abuse and healthcare -- at the band's MySpace page.

And while we're at it, how good was Adamantium?


Saturday, March 27, 2010

BRIDGE 9 SIGNS TWO NEW BANDS

Mother of Mercy





HUMANE SOCIETY BENEFIT SHOW TONIGHT!

It's 21+ but it's for a good cause. If you can help support, please do.

Friday, March 26, 2010

CABAL CLOTHING IS BACK

Break out the baggy jeans, XXL tees and toilet chain necklaces, Cabal Clothing is back. One hour ago, Cabal announced its revival via Twitter. Here's the news:























The line's return to the scene will be marked by the release of a limited edition b-ball jersey (duh) and an updated o.g. t-shirt with an updated twist, available exclusively at this weekend's United Blood fest:










Is your old Cabal gear collecting dust in your parents' basement? Are you still rockin' it? Does this news make you want to listen to more Earth Crisis? Do you have any idea what I'm talking about right now? Let us know...

LEEWAY'S EDDIE SUTTON LAUNCHES NEW BAND WITH MEMBERS OF CROWN OF THORNZ, SKARHEAD

The word on the street is that Leeway frontman Eddie Sutton will be jumping back on stage with a new band -- probably literally... I saw the guy at a fest in Germany leaping around this gigantic, rock-star stage like a little league baseball player while, come to think of it, dressed very much like a little league baseball player.

Anyway, the new band, TRUTHnRIGHTS, features current and ex-members of Crown of Thornz, Skarhead, Maximum Penalty, Agents of Man, One 4 One and Homicidal.

"It is truly an honor to be working with this group of players...The thrill of playing again has me feeling just like it's the early 80's and I'm a teenager all over again," said Sutton.

TRUTHnRIGHTS tunes haven't hit the web yet, but working titles include "Tommy Karate," "Bolo (Be on the Lookout)," "Greenlight (Enemy)" and "Chopped Up."

All hail the kingpin...


  

BAD RELIGION DEBUTS NEW SONG LIVE

Bad Religion is one of my favorite bands, if for no other reason than that they've somehow written the same song hundreds and hundreds of times without it sounding old.

Not that the genre-defining California punk band doesn't rule for many other reasons: informed and insurgent lyrics, killer logo, drug-fueled in-fighting, 14 records over 30 years with number 15 slated for a fall release!

As I type, Graffin & Co. are charging through a 30-day tour to celebrate 30 years in the game, and they're debuting a handful of tunes from their forthcoming record each night. Check out one of 'em, "Resist Stance," filmed two nights back at the Hollywood House of Blues:

 

Thursday, March 25, 2010

XIBALBA TO TERRORIZE THE WEST COAST... AND UTAH

Everyone's favorite maya-inspired, down-tuned, apocalypse-heralding, California hardcore act, Xibalba, will be gracing our fine state on April 4th. You'll find 'em at Mojo's in Ogden alongside The Wrath, Collapse, Outlet and XDelegateX.

If you haven't caught 'em in the land of Zion before, well, it usually goes something like this:

FROM THE ARCHIVES: GCA VIDEO INTERVIEWS (SLEEPING GIANT, STARKWEATHER AND XREFLECTX)







Head over to our Video Archive to find more interviews and tons of live footage.

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

SKYCAMEFALLING TO REUNITE AT LONG ISLAND FEST

Thirty-five bands are slated to play the Long Island Fest so far, and Skycamefalling is one of 'em. The band split up in the early 2000s -- after playing some great shows in SLC -- and members went on to form The Sleeping. The fest will take place June 10-12 in Amityville and Garden City.

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

FUCK YOU SEATTLE

I hope Panic Pulse starts doing a lot more of these videos.


Broadway Calls "f*ck you seattle" from Panic Pulse on Vimeo.

APRIL 23 @ MOJO'S




(Better flier coming soon. Mark your calendars though.)

Monday, March 22, 2010

108 CALLS IT A DAY (AGAIN) (UPDATED)


EDIT - A statement from vocalist Rob Fish can be found here and one from Vic here.

108 confirmed earlier today that they have indeed thrown in the towel. Last night, the band made a post on their Facebook page that read simply "108 has died" and later on "their [sic] MIGHT be a 'bye-bye' show sometime. That will be it."

Unfortunate news since Deathwish was set to release (and still will, most likely) the new record, 18.61, on April 13. The band had planned to do a few small tours in support of the record, but obviously that's off the table now.

This is the second time the band has broken up. They reunited around 2005 and released the album A New Beat From A Dead Heart in 2007 and toured sporadically after that. 18.61 has, reportedly, been finished for nearly a year but Deathwish only recently added it to the release schedule.

GCA was supposed to interview either Vic or Rob prior to the release of 18.61, and we're waiting to hear back on whether or not that will go through. Hopefully it's still in the cards.

But for now, Rob Fish has a new project called Eshas (which we featured a bit ago) that will hopefully keep him busy and there's always a chance 108 could make another return sometime in the future—in one form or another.

LAST NIGHT: BATTLE, HERCULES, ABHF, REVIVER, OCL

How was the show? If you took pictures or video, shoot it to grudgecityhc@gmail.com. We'd love to post it.

NEW MUSIC: PARASITIC SKIES

Seattle vegan-straightedge act Parasitic Skies have posted two news songs from their upcoming Seventh Dagger release. Check 'em out on the band's MySpace page.

Parasitic Skies will be playing at Mojo's in Ogden on Friday, April 23 with Collapse, XDelegateX and The Current.

Sunday, March 21, 2010

LAST NIGHT: BULLY, GHOULS GOLD, TRIUMPH, XDELEGATEX

How was the show? If you took video or pics, shoot 'em to grudgecityhc@gmail.com. We'd love to put it up.

Friday, March 19, 2010

"PUNK ROCK COLORING BOOK"

This guy made 100 of these years ago, didn't do anything with them, then gave them to some friends to sell on tour. On his blog he says he's got 5 more and he's selling them for $8 with shipping included. Available here.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH, VOLUME 2 AVAILABLE NOW, FEATURES UNRELEASED REVIVER!

Download here. Now. Free. Featuring Reviver, This Is Hell, The Effort, Final Fight and more!


Wednesday, March 17, 2010

MEAN SEASON SOUNDBOARD RECORDINGS


Last June, Disembodied and Mean Season played the Chain Reaction in Anaheim, California. Jav (a frequent contributor to xSTUCK IN THE PASTx and member of The Mistake) set up the show and arranged for the band to be recorded through the soundboard. He planned on releasing a comp of all the bands that played those two nights (since I guess everything was recorded) but opted to just throw the Mean Season tracks out there instead.

So if you like Mean Season, download the show from 6/5/09 here.

CONSTANTS WILL BENOIT BUILDING ECO-FRIENDLY RECORDING STUDIO

Constants is an indie-rock band from the Boston area, a group which we normally wouldn't cover (though they are pretty good, I'll admit), but singer/guitarist Will Benoit is trying something relatively impressive.

He's raising money to build a solar powered, eco-friendly recording studio in the New England area. He's taking donations to achieve this, and while he may not get there, it's still a pretty cool idea. He's got a video on his site that explains his goals and why he's doing it.

Even though you may not want to donate, it's still a project worth checking out. Pretty ambitious and, if he pulls it off, pretty damn impressive.

Check out the video and the site here.

NEW MUSIC: TRAP THEM

I love this band. Trap Them has posted a new track called "Carnage Incarnate" on their Myspace Page. It'll be available on their upcoming vinyl-only 12" Filth Rations.


DOWNLOAD THE RUN FOR COVER RECORDS SAMPLER

Run For Cover Records has released a new sampler with tracks from bands including Title Fight, Tigers Jaw, Hostage Calm and more.

Download it here if you're interested.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

VINYL/MERCH TIP: BURN/JUDGE/BRAINS ON eBAY

eBay user thebeatgoesron is getting rid of some great stuff, here.

FLYER: CHAIN OF STRENGTH/BRAINSTORM @ SPEEDWAY


Anyone there?

See more classic flyers and pics in our Photo Archive.

Thanks Diego.

Monday, March 15, 2010

INSIDE OUT via THE CURRENT



How rad is this?

HELL YEAH

Is anyone in SLC making pizzas with Daiya yet?

REVIVER PICS FROM BOSTON

Check 'em out at Reviver's Facebook page.

NEW MUSIC: BAD INTENTIONS

SLC's Bad Intentions is back with a new demo track, "The Straight Path." Check it out, here.


EXPERIENCE LAST WEEK'S H2O/CRO-MAGS SHOW WITH THE HUNDREDS

Photos, videos and commentary... here.

Sunday, March 14, 2010

NEW MUSIC: MIKE DOWN (AMENITY, FORCED DOWN,GRAVITY RECORDS)



Some Explication from Double Cross:
Just a little background on the track, what you're hearing is Amenity's Mike Down on vocals, Tim Gonzales on guitar and guest vocals by Quicksand's Sergio Vega as well as San Diego native, Hajj Daud who does the spoken word piece. There's no drums, no bass, just four guys speaking and playing from the heart. Read on.

Unique track... what do you think? Anyone remember Amenity?

NEW MUSIC: THE BANNER

I first heard The Banner something like five years ago... I thought to myself, "Well, that's probably the last time I'll hear The Banner." But over the years, I've been very impressed with the band's evolution. From the sound of this teaser, I will definitely (legally) be acquiring their next record. Listen in:



What do you think of The Banner?

Friday, March 12, 2010

GCA'S DIY GUIDE: BOOKING SHOWS 101... TO GO!

Derek, a.k.a. JesusPresley, has created an amazing .pdf version of our DIY GUIDE: Booking Shows 101. Check it out below and/or download, here.

GCA's DIY GUIDE: Booking Shows 101

Thursday, March 11, 2010

DIY GUIDE - BOOKING SHOWS 101 - STEP 4: DAY OF THE SHOW

You’ve sent dozens of e-mails, printed and distributed hundreds of fliers and posted relentlessly on the Internet. Now it’s finally time to see if all your hard work paid off. There’s no reason that it shouldn’t (barring a natural disaster or something to that effect) and by all accounts the night will go off without a hitch.

Help is the first order of business. If you haven’t recruited a few friends to lend a hand for the night, you might be in trouble. Make sure they’re guys you trust and know won’t bail on you at the last minute because there’s going to be a lot to do.

Get in touch with the band at some point early in the day (if they haven’t already gotten in to town) just to touch base, make sure they know what time the show starts and where the venue is located.

Starting the show at a reasonable time is an important thing to do, especially on a weeknight. If you get started too late, things are going to run late and the last band will end up playing for the 15 people that stuck it out because they felt bad. Make sure that you’re at the venue an hour or so early to get everything set up to run smoothly. It’s a good idea to have the bands there around that time, too. That way they can load everything in, set up their merch and be ready to go before the doors open.

If you rented sound equipment, have someone relatively knowledgeable about that kind of thing there to help you set it up and make sure everything works. Make sure there are enough mic stands, extra cables and anything else that might break at some point. If time allows for it maybe do a quick sound check, but you can always do that as the night progresses.

Once everything is ready and people start lining up outside (or milling around the front door waiting for you to open it) have someone ready to take the money. Make sure you bring enough change to handle all the people that stopped and took a twenty out of the ATM on the way. Change is the one thing that’s overlooked a lot of times, so make sure you have enough. If you can, have someone standing by the door all night. That makes it easier for you to roam around and make sure things are running smoothly on the floor.

Once the majority of people are inside, have the first band start playing. Hopefully this happens sometime between 7 and 7:30. That gives enough room for each of the 4 bands to play for about 20 minutes, give or take. From my perspective, it’s always better for people to say “I wish you guys would have played longer” than to overhear someone say, “Geez, they played way too long.” If everything goes well, including 10-15 minute breakdown/setup time between bands, the show should be done by a little after 10, and you’re all cleaned up and out of there by 11 or so. This is the ideal schedule (as determined by me) but there are always exceptions.

Once the show is over and everyone is gone, it’s time to settle up with the venue and band(s). This is where things get a little tricky. Sometimes being in the presence of a lot of cash can cause people to get a little greedy. But if you want to keep doing this, it’s time to be honest. If the venue has a set price, I usually take care of that first. It’s best to keep the venue happy so that next time you want to book a show there, it’ll be a lot easier to convince them to let you use the place. If you develop a good rapport with them, you can keep doing shows as long as you want—and that’s a good thing for everyone.

Bands tend to be a little more understanding of money woes. If you promised them a certain amount, but came up just short after paying the venue they’ll probably be okay, especially if a lot of people bought merch. Ideally, the show will have brought in enough money to pay the venue and the band what they were promised, you were able to pay for the sound equipment and maybe even end up a few bucks extra.

If you do end up with extra money, there are a couple things you could do with it. If you give it to the band, they’ll be inclined to tell their friends to go through you when they need a show. Kicking back a little money to the local bands is never a bad idea, either or what I tend to do is put it aside and use it as emergency money in case the next show comes up a little short. You might have enough to do a little bit of both and hopefully that’s the case.

So there you go! You’ve put on a successful show. Now go home and prepare to do it all over again. There are bands waiting to play here.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

DIY GUIDE - BOOKING SHOWS 101 - STEP 3: PROMOTION & PREPARATION

This is, admittedly, the easiest step of booking shows. All you have to do is spread the word.

First things first though—make sure everything is confirmed. Touch base with the touring band(s), venue and locals to make sure everyone is on the same page. Once that’s all taken care of start yelling from the rooftops if you have to.

Since the Internet is prevalent in the lives of pretty much everyone, some people have decided that good old-fashioned fliers are a thing of the past. Those people are very, very wrong. Even though it seems like everyone has a Myspace account or a Facebook page, there are those that don’t, and maybe those people still want to come to your show.

You don’t have to overdo it, but printing up a couple hundred quarter sheet fliers will cost maybe eight bucks and go a long way. Give them out to everyone you know, plaster school campuses, bus stops, record stores, coffee shops and anywhere else you can think of. It’ll take a little time to get all those places, but the end result will be well worth it.

If you have no idea how to make a flier, don’t worry. Photoshop can do wonderful things, but if you aren’t that tech savvy there are a number of other options. First, you could ask/beg one of your friends that know how to do that kind of thing. Or second, you could go old school. Print out the names of everything you need (i.e. all bands, venue, address, date, time and price) cut them up and glue them to a photocopied picture. Then photocopy that. Boom. You’ve just done it the same way people made fliers in the 80s and early 90s when only rich yuppies owned a computer.

Now, just start posting it everywhere you can—both in real life and on the Internet. The better job you do of spreading the word, the more people will show up and the more fun everyone will have.

If the venue doesn’t have sound equipment, you may have to rent some. Performance Audio or somewhere similar usually has everything you need for a reasonable price. You’ll have to pick it up, set up and return it, but it’s better than trying to find a professional sound guy to bring his own equipment. That usually costs three or four times as much. Securing sound is really the second hardest thing to do after finding a place to let you set everything up.

Once you have those and a good jump on promotion, you’re pretty much set and ready to go.

Tomorrow, it's all about what to do the day of the show and how to pull everything together.

PICS FROM BROADWAYS CALLS AT KILBY

Check out Matthew Windsor's shots of Broadway Calls from their recent show at Kilby Court, here.

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

DOWNLOAD THE LOCKSTEP DEMO


Lockstep played Ogden last week (videos here) and as I was looking over their blog this afternoon, I found that they'd posted a link to some rehearsal tracks they recorded.

The quality isn't that great, but at least you'll be able to hear what was missing when their lead guitarist wasn't able to make the show last week.

Great stuff and I highly recommend checking it out. Hopefully there's a proper release in the works.

Lockstep Blog

Demo link

DIY GUIDE - BOOKING SHOWS 101 - STEP 2: FINDING BANDS

Let’s assume that after following the brilliant instructions from Step 1, you’ve found a place that will let you have a show.

Now you need to actually set it up.

Booking touring bands can either be the easiest part or the most difficult—it just depends on how you go about it. If it’s your first show, it’s probably better to start off small, which means one band. One touring band will be plenty of work on its own. You don’t need to dive in head first on a 4-band tour package with contracts and guarantees that you probably can’t afford. The smaller the better and once you've got an idea of how things go, you can start moving on to bigger and better shows.

With the Internet (Myspace especially), any 5 guys with vague knowledge of how to play an instrument are able to cobble together 18 minutes for a set. They also think that since they have this 4-originals plus a cover song set, they need to go on tour. They don’t need to and you don’t need to book them.

You don’t need to go after big name bands, but don’t start with a band that no one has ever heard of either. Those mid-level road warrior bands that tour 10 months a year are a good place to start. They usually have something tangible to support (a full length, a new EP, etc.) and know how touring works. They’re going to make your life (and your first show) a lot easier.

One downside to booking shows is that once you’ve started doing them, it creates a snowball effect. Every single band that’s been together for 5 months (like the one mentioned earlier) is going to get in touch with you about setting up a show. In a small scene (like Salt Lake) be aware of how many shows can be supported. Sure, you’d like to help out every band, but doing 3 to 4 shows a week is going to take a toll on everyone and you especially. The more small shows you do, the less people are going to come. As much as they may love hardcore shows, a lot of people either can’t afford or simply don’t want to see one 4 days a week.

Start browsing sites of good bands and see if they have an open date. Usually a good place for a Salt Lake show will fall between Southern California or Las Vegas and Denver or Boise. Some bands are willing to drive through the night for a show on an off day and some aren’t. It never hurts to ask. Send them a message (a good rule to follow is to put exactly what you’re asking in the subject headline, i.e. “Salt Lake show on 3/10?”) to see if they might be interested. If they have a tour booked already, they may be down for another show to avoid the money they’ll lose/spend on a day off. They may want to spend an extra day in the warm weather, but it never hurts to try.

If you can avoid dealing with booking agents, do so. If you have to, you have to, but bands have to pay the agency a portion of the money they make off a show booked through them. If they book it themselves, they keep everything. That’s always a little bit extra incentive. Booking agents also really like contracts, which for DIY shows are never a great idea.

A lot of DIY bands will be happy with whatever you give them, but to put them at ease, just be up front with them. The best way I’ve found is to break it all down piece by piece. Once they’ve agreed to play and set a date, just give them a list of expenses.

The venue costs X amount of dollars.
I’m charging X amount of dollars for the show.
I’ll pay the venue first, and whatever is left over after I’ve paid for expenses like water and fliers, you guys get.

Even easier, “80/20 split in your favor after expenses, which total X amount of dollars.”

Bands like that kind of thing. They like to get an idea as to whether or not the show will be worth traveling to.

Once you have a touring band, you can add a few locals to the show. One headliner and two local openers give the touring band a great spot right in the middle. Four bands is the perfect amount for a show (especially on a weeknight) so try to not overdo it. You don’t have to be a jerk, but have some common sense when it comes to shows. Don’t say yes to every band that wants to play because you'll end up with 8 bands on a show that no one is going to stick around for.

Next up is promotion, preparation and all the other fun/stressful stuff that comes along with booking shows.

STREAM ENTIRE ABANDOM ALBUM

Abandon is a Southern California based vegan straight edge band. With Gather, Seven Generations, Cherem and The Separation all gone, it's good to know that someone has taken up the mantle and decided to run with it. They play a strong 90s hardcore influenced style with a little bit of a fresh take.

The bands debut full length will be available soon through Catalyst Records, but you can stream the whole thing right now.

Abandon - The Death of Urgency



NEW MUSIC: 108 & STARKWEATHER


Deathwish Inc. recently linked to new tracks from Starkweather and 108, both of whom have new albums coming out soon on the label.

108's track, "18.61," which is also the title of the new LP, is available exclusively through Brooklyn Vegan. The album will be available on 4/13 and hopefully this will tide you over until then.

This Sheltering Night, Starkweather's latest, still doesn't have an official release date and most are speculating that it will go the same route as the new Blacklisted record—it will just show up one morning and be available for everyone.

The band has 2 new tracks, "Broken From Inside" and "Transmit" up for streaming on their Myspace page. Head over and have a listen. I assure you, this record is going to be phenomenal.

MARCH 20: SET IT STRAIGHT REUNION IN REDDING

If you tuned into GCAcast 12, you know GCA's stance on the band-breaking-up-and-reuniting-a-year-later phenomenon of the 2000s. However, Set it Straight is reforming to play a benefit show on March 20th, and their intentions seem pure:
"Yes we are playing. Yes, that is the date. Yes, we did just break up a little over two years ago. A very close friend of everyone in the band recently had a family member pass and we were asked to play to raise some funds for their needs. It was said by this band that there would never be any reunions of any sort, but this is not for us. It is for our friend, and we are helping him and family out in their time of need. I honestly can't think of any other reason as to why would play a show as Set it Straight anymore except for this. Every band is playing for free, and the venue is not collecting. ALL MONEY GOES TO THE FAMILY.

NEW MUSIC: SICK OF IT ALL

Lambgoat is streaming a new song from Sick of it All, titled "Death or Jail." Head on over to give it a listen. Here's what the band had to say about the tune:
"We wrote the song 'Death or Jail (based on a true story)' about friends of ours that broke away and ended up following a path that led them to self-destruction or incarceration. We all know people who have made these huge mistakes, and it's a really difficult thing to explain, especially when they come from the same place and common background. They don't just turn their backs on their friends, it's as if they're turning their backs on themselves, shutting themselves into a reality that can offer nothing but stress, violence, and wickedness. Thank goodness we had the outlet of hardcore to help us vent our frustrations, or we all might have found ourselves in a similar place. This song is dedicated to those friends that we wish could have made better choices."