popwreckoning

Exclusively from Buzznet:

We know you’re excited about Blink-182′s album coming out on September 27th, and today we’re unveiling the first glimpse of a piece of the album cover art exclusively on Buzznet!  You can see another piece of the album cover tomorrow via Idolator and Absolutepunk will have the final masterpiece up on Thursday, along with other exciting news!

You can view the album cover teaser exclusively on Buzznet today at http://buzznet.com/~5cdb087

Since their 1994 full-length debut, blink-182 has sold over 11 million albums and filled arenas and stadiums both in the U.S. and worldwide. All six of their albums have been certified either gold or double platinum, with 1999’s Enema of the State selling more than 4 million copies. In 2005, blink-182 announced they were going on an indefinite hiatus. They came back together four years later and began work on their new album.

blink-182 are back with the lead single from their new album, “Up All Night.” The trio’s first new song in eight years made its radio debut July 14th on Los Angeles’ KROQ-FM. “Up All Night” is available for streaming on the band’s website www.blink182.com.

In August, blink-182 will hit the road with My Chemical Romance as part of the 2011 Honda Civic Tour, which will reach 38 U.S. cities. Details about all tour dates can be found on www.hondacivictour.com.

blink-182 and My Chemical Romance are gearing up for the 10th annual Honda Civic Tour, set to start out August 5th in Holmdel, New Jersey. Support on selected dates includes Manchester Orchestra, Matt and Kim, and Rancid. Not only is it the tenth anniversary of the tour, but blink-182 was actually on the very first Honda Civic Tour.

blink-182 and My Chemical Romance fan clubs will have access to presale tickets Monday, June 6th. Fans can also “like” the Honda Civic Tour Facebook page to gain access to presale tickets on Wednesday, June 8th, as well as tour updates and other information. Tickets go on sale to the general public on Friday, June 10th through Ticketmaster and LiveNation.

Be sure to check out the official Honda Civic Tour site for a full list of dates.

www.hondacivictour.com

I really didn’t know what I was getting into when this came across my desk(top). I had heard of The Aquabats, as this was one of the bands Travis Barker of Blink-182 fame had drummed for before joining Blink in 1999. I had also heard that they had a fan base as to the likes of Reel Big Fish had, which after listening to some of their older albums, makes a little more sense since they sound kind of like RBF, except with a superhero motif complete with costumes and crazy names like “The MC Bat Commander”, and my personal favorite, “Ricky Fitness”.

So after 5 years, those crazy guys known as The Aquabats have released Hi-Five Soup!, after many delays due to record label issues and late promotion. However, if you are looking for old school Aquabats record, you’re going to be very disappointed. It seems the band has gone in a different direction and made an album directed towards kids. Yes, I admit I was a little shocked when I heard songs like with colorful titles such as “Poppin’ a Wheelie,” and who couldn’t forget “Food Fight on the Moon!” Sitting through this was a bit different for my tastes and didn’t feel like the typical “Punk album” you would be used to by today’s standards. As a matter of fact, I was hoping to get something from the likes of “Reel Big Fish,” and “Blink-182″ but instead got something that would be heard on “Yo Gabba Gabba.” Now that’s not a bad thing, as “YGG” has had an impressive list of bands that have been featured on the show (Of Montreal, The Shins and Weezer.)

Overall, this isn’t a bad little record and if you have kids, it’s definitely worth it- and is a better substitute than having to suffer through Raffi or some other crappy children’s singer that would probably turn your kid into a mindless zombie who gets picked on constantly in school and ends up having bed wetting problems because of the overdosage of Sharon, Lois and Bram’s Elephant Show (or any other crappy children’s entertainer that is popular now) in their life. However, if you’re a hardcore punk fan and are hoping for something like “Reel Big Fish,” you might want to pass on this as you will be greatly disappointed.

Track Listing:
1. “The Shark Fighter!”
2. “B.F.F.!”
3. “The Legend Is True!”
4. “Radio Down!” (Featuring Biz Markie)
5. “Poppin’ A Wheelie!”
6. “Hey Homies!”
7. “In My Dreams!”
8. “Just Can’t Lose!”
9. “All My Money!”
10. “Pink Pants!” (Featuring Strong Bad[3])
11. “Food Fight On The Moon!”
12. “Luck Dragon Lady!”

“We’re the Hadituptohere’s and we’ve had it up to here with rock ‘n roll.”

While this basic statement of love begins the Hadituptohere’s live performances, it seems to also be the same idea that bore punk rock. Of course that idea has mutated.

Somewhere along the way punk rock was commandeered (you probably already knew…I blame Blink 182, but feel free to blame any other band that proclaims “pop punk”). Just a few short years ago Avril Lavigne opined in Rolling Stone that she was the first to blend punk with other sounds.

That is a false, weird statement.

Furthermore, why blend punk with anything?

The Hadituptohere’s prove it was fine where it was. Their latest record, Wild City, Honest Dancing, being the most supreme example.

On the record the Hadits seemingly channel the spirits of any number of bands: The Stooges, Black Flag, The Plugz, or any other band that could have/should have been on the Repo Man soundtrack.

This implies some sort of mimicry, which is unfair. You shouldn’t necessarily like a band just because they remind you of other stuff you like. The Hadits channel these bands but turn it into something raucous and true.

“Party” may be the best of the 12 song album. Stu (guitar and vocals) casually transitions between riffs while Steve (bass) delivers an atypical flowing bass line. Jared (drums and vocals) continues to be punk rock’s Keith Moon.

Lyrically the songs delve into the social and emotional (“If I read the right books would that make me a scholar?/If I said the right words would that make me a prophet?”) and the revelry created at their live shows (“And we’ll dance till we get this town out of the gutter/Let’s sing because it sounds so much better together”).

Download Wild City, Honest Dancing here. A vinyl release will be upcoming. Want more information on the Hadituptohere’s? Check their myspace.

Tracklisting:
01. Wild City
02. P’s & Q’s
03. The Stories
04. Windows
05. Heritage Hills
06. Shake Those Hips, Raise Those Hands
07. A Separate Place
08. Party
09. American Ship Building
10. In A Small Diner A Bit South Of The City
11. Keep It Together
12. Bag of Bricks/Honest Dancing

Hadituptohere: myspace

Written by Adam Leroy

While on break in the UK, the guitarist, Mike Kennerty, of Oklahoma Top 40 Rockers All-American Rejects took some time to chat with Bethany about the current tour, Tyson’s injury and more.

Bethany, PopWreckoning: Let’s start here. You all are touring in Europe at this moment. How is that going?
Mike Kennerty, All-American Rejects: It is going great. We’ve been here for about four shows now and they’ve all been insane. The crowds over here are awesome so it has all been a blast.
PW: Are European crowds really different than the fans you have back in the states?
MK: They, lately, they seem to go a little crazier than American crowds. American crowds have become a little tame lately it seems, so it is fun to come over here and still be all hot and sweaty and wild.

PW: Now you guys, these are some of your first shows since Tyson’s injury. What kind of happened there? How did fans react when they found out that Tyson was in the hospital for five days?
MK: He had an infection in his leg and it just got bad. We tried to power through some shows, but ended up having to get it taken care of. We canceled some shows and yeah, coming back, these are some of the first shows we’ve done and luckily, we were afraid he wasn’t going to be able to do some of these shows. It turns out he heals quick. I don’t think anyone here can tell the difference. He has been rocking it out regardless. The fans are all really nice and very supportive and understanding about the shows that we’ve had to cancel. We very rarely ever have to do it, so when we do, it is when it matters.
PW: It seemed like when that happened, there were tons of internet rumors that kind of just got away from what was really going on. Did you have any reactions as you were reading these rumors?
MK: I hadn’t heard them? What were they?
PW: Oh things like, a massive tumor had to be removed.
MK: Haha. That one comes from…that was Ty’s kind of own rumor he started. A few shows before we started to cancel, he was playing with a knee brace on and he would make up things on stage just to be entertaining and that was one of them. It was funny. He says a bunch of shit on stage every night and nothing ever gets out until that one thing and that one just kind of spread. But yeah, no tumors.

PW: Now with the shows you had to cancel, you were on the Blink-182 tour. What was it like to be on one of the biggest tours of the summer? It seemed like everyone was just talking about that.
MK: It was great and a great line of bands. It was a blast and great to have it. Unfortunately, it had to be cut short, which wasn’t fun, but we still got to do a few weeks of it. We got to live it up and experience what it was like to tour with a band of that caliber. It was cool.
PW: Next, you guys are coming back to tour the states with Taking Back Sunday, who was also on the Blink tour. What can fans expect to be different this time around when it is just you and Taking Back?
MK: I think it will be a more aggressive show. Of all the bands that were on the Blink tour, us and Taking Back are the two that were definitely, you know, tear it up the most live and put our hearts into it live. I think the people just need to be prepared for lots of energy and lots of people just screaming in their faces. That’s what both of our bands bring.

PW: Sounds great. Can you tell me a little about Edmond Records? You just put out an album by a group called the Upwelling, right? Is this everybody in the band that is involved or?
MK: It is just me and Tyson. It started off a few years ago. I produced a record for a guy named Ben Weasel and I wanted to put it out. We put that out and the Upwelling is a band that we’re friends with and we’ve taken out on tour a few times. When it came time for them to do their first record, we just begged and pleaded with them to just come with us and take a chance on our label. They did and we put that out. It’s a great record and things are going great. They’re actually in the UK with us right now, so it is good times.
PW: Awesome. What are some of the future projects that Edmond has coming up?
MK: There’s a band called the City Lives that are from Oklahoma as well that we’ve been friends with and have also taken out as well. We’re kind of taking it slow. A lot of people start these labels and just kind of hull out bands that sound just like them and capitalize on that. We’re not into doing that. We just want to help out friends when we can and take it in more as a hobby than an alternate source of income. We just want to help find great music.

PW: Great. Tell me a little about your involvement with Tck Tck Tck and the Climate Change Project?
MK: (whispers) I don’t know anything about that.
PW: Haha.
MK: What is it?
PW: Your band, er, Tyson was recently in a promo for it.
MK: I don’t know. I’m a bad band dude right now.

PW: No worries. We’ll move on to the next question. Let’s do something fun. You just fill in the blank. You just released a video for “I Wanna.” So today, you wanna…
MK: Oh shit. Today I wanna go see a movie because it is a day off and there’s nothing else to do and being in Europe, everything is so expensive. Even a movie is expensive, but it is the cheapest thing to do, but there’s an early bus call. So I can’t. That’s what I really wanna go do.
PW: What movie would you see?
MK: “Zombieland.”
PW: It is funny. You should try and see that.
MK: Awesome. Can’t do it today. Next day off.

PW: It is nearing the end of 2009 and the close of a decade. For that entire ‘naught’ decade, you guys have been a band and producing music. What has changed for you over this decade and what have you learned as a band?
MK: Well, obviously, our whole lives have changed. We’ve somehow stumbled into this success that we never expected, but are incredibly stoked on. As people, we’ve tried to remain the same. We come from Oklahoma, which is pretty humble territory. Our family wouldn’t let us get a big head even if we wanted to. The main thing, we’ve watched a lot of other bands and other people kind of come up and let their egos grow unchecked. We’ve watched them get cut down to size because of that. If anything, we’ve learned keeping yourself in check is very important and not letting everything build up like egos and not getting to feeling like your better than everything, because you’re not. I think that has kind of helped us last as long as we have. We don’t take ourselves as seriously…we don’t demand that of other people. That’s all that matters.

PW: That is good advice for bands just starting off. What’s next for you guys with the new decade?
MK: We’ll probably start working on a new album and see where that takes us and hopefully keep this train moving.
PW: Have you already started working on some songs?
MK: Very small pieces. Nothing full on yet. We usually wait to get off the road and clear our heads a little bit and then start buckling down and getting stuff going.
PW: So no sneak peeks on this upcoming tour?
MK: No, unfortunately not.

PW: So for a final question, continuing this last decade trend, what would you say are your best of the ‘naughts’ looking back over the past ten years. Your favorite song or memory of the last ten years?
MK: Oh man. That’s a tough one. I don’t even know. So many experiences, it is hard to break it down when I think about it. There are so many good times that I’ve had and they’re associated with music and movies, so trying to pick one thing is pretty tough. I will say right now with this tour we’re doing in the UK with the Upwelling and American Steel, we’re having an amazing time and I love both bands. It is just really great and it got me thinking when we had this tour a few years ago like in 2003 when we brought Limbeck and Motion City Soundtrack. That was like one of the funnest tours that I’ve ever had and it got me reminiscing on that. That was one of the best times of my life, those three weeks we were over here. Such an amazing, fun tour. That would be one of my favorite things ever.
PW: Those guys are so much fun. Both bands.
MK: Totally.
PW: Well I know it is your day off, so I’ll let you go have some fun and relax, but I appreciate you speaking with me. Those were great answers. Thank you.
MK: Thanks so much.
PW: Have a good day.
MK: Talk to you later. Bye.

Motion City Soundtrack have announced My Dinosaur Life as the title of their fourth studio album and Columbia Records debut.

The album should be available in 2010. Blink-182‘s Mark Hoppus is producing. He first teamed with the boys for Commit This to Memory.

While waiting, the band wants you to enjoy a new song “Disappear.” “Disappear” is their first new studio song in two years and it is available as of today, Oct. 20, on iTunes. The band hopes to release a video next month.

The band also has planned a special 3-night Chicago performance for fans to catch their first three albums in their entirety this December.

We’ll keep you updated as more news becomes available about My Dinosaur Life. The quirky and smart release full of moogs will be something you won’t want to miss.

Motion City Soundtrack: website | myspace | @ liberty hall

After rescheduling and a shuffling of the original lineup (Weezer, Taking Back Sunday and Chester French out, The Academy Is… and Fall Out Boy in) Blink-182 took the stage on a chilly evening in St. Louis to thousands of screaming fans and filled the evening with their catalogue of hits and humor.

Blink-182: website | myspace