In honor of the upcoming sequel to the film ‘Independence Day’ starring Jeff Goldbloom, Milwaukee based punks Avenues are releasing their entire back catalog for free! You can download the tracks over on Bandcamp and pick up a copy of their latest release ‘Creep Show’ for as little as $2 (they’re like American pounds).

Avenues Facebook.

Hamburg’s Grand Hotel Van Cleef have welcomed The Lion And The Wolf to their roster to put together a special Full Band European Tour this October. Dates and venues TBC.

Speaking about the collaboration, The Lion And The Wolf, aka. Thomas George said:

“I am hugely excited to announce that in October this year, I will be returning to Europe as a full band for the first time, this is thanks to my dear friends over at Grand Hotel Van Cleef in Germany who have been kind enough to welcome me to their booking roster. I have toured relentlessly over the past two years as a solo musician and it has been a continuous wish of mine to play these songs in a greater capacity than just myself and my guitar. Being given this opportunity to perform across the continent with the musicians who played on, and recorded ‘Symptoms’ is something that I am really humbled by and I couldn’t be more excited.”

In the meantime you can check out The Lion And The Wolf at one his solo UK tour dates this summer.

JULY

03 WINCHESTER Blissfields Festival
05 BASINGSTOKE The Sanctuary
06 NOTTINGHAM JT Soar
07 LEEDS Brew Dog
09 CARDIFF Gwdihw
10 CHELTENHAM 2000 Trees Festival
12 EDINBURGH Banshee Labyrinth
13 NEWCASTLE Nerd Hutch
14 MANCHESTER Star and Garter
15 HULL 80 DAYS Bier Haus
16 LINCOLN The Guilded Quill
17 BRIGHTON The Fitz
18 LONDON The Stillery

Following the revelation of the sexual assault allegations made against Set It Off bassist Austin Kerr, the band have posted a statement saying that he will no longer be part of the band.

“Recently we have been made aware of the statements made about our bassist, Austin Kerr. We are taking the situation seriously and have decided that the best thing for the band is to part ways with Austin. We send our deepest apologies to anyone who has ever been affected negatively by his actions. Our fans mean the absolute world to us and their safety and happiness will always be our top priority. We are so grateful for their ongoing support over the years and will do everything we can to make this up to them and to move forward from this.”

In a follow up message to fans, Set It Off announced that there will be no change to any of the planned tours or live shows and that nothing has been cancelled.

Ahead of the start of their May tour, Manchester based trio Forty Four Hours have released their brand new music video for “Hold Out”. Check out the track and the list of the bands upcoming live shows with Miss Vincent and Summer City below.

MAY

21. LEEDS The Packhorse
22. YORK Fibbers
23. NEWCASTLE Head of Steam
24. MANCHESTER Retro Bar
25. LONDON Surya
26. SOUTHAMPTON Talking Heads

Forty Four Hours on Facebook.

London based singer songwriter Rob Lynch has released a brand new track ahead of his performance at this years Slam Dunk Festival. “I’m Positive I’m An Optimist” is about picking yourself up and remembering to live life to the full despite the adversities life can throw at you. The video comprises of footage taken at last years Vans Warped Tour.

“Almost a year has passed since I set sail to North America to spend 2 months playing on the Vans Warped Tour. To commemorate that, I have put together a video documenting some of the great experiences I had. ‘I’m Positive, I’m An Optimist’ is a song that I’ve been playing live for a while now, so I’m excited to get the recorded version out there in the universe for all to hear. I think it’s a good fit for a nostalgic look back at last summer. And, yes, that is Coolio.”

Amidst the constant mumblings of distaste regarding their name, Slaves have stepped into the limelight these last five months or so. With a nomination into the BBC Music Sound of 2015 shortlist and a performance on Later with Jooles Holland, the duo really are proving that punk can be successful in today’s mainstream.

On Monday night I was treated to a brutal full force performance from Isaac and Laurie, otherwise known as Slaves at Newcastle’s Cluny. It’s a long way from home for the two boys from Kent and the last time they ventured to this particular spot their set was cut short by a very pedantic BBC producer at the Radio 6 Music Festival. On this occasion however they were allowed to play to the end.

I’ve rarely seen The Cluny sold out before but the mix of old and young fans absolutely packed the small room, a real testament to the tireless work put in by the band. The lights go dim, the crowed cheers and over the PA comes Isaac singing “This is what I do when I’ve got nothing to do. I shine my shoe with a dirty vest”, in my mind one of the more interesting choices for walk on music. As soon as they step onto the stage they storm into ‘White Knuckle Ride’ with huge amounts of energy.

Little known fact is that Slaves aren’t only a punk rock band, they also spend a section of each gig surveying the audience to find out the nations favourite kind of biscuit which in Newcastle appears to be the chocolate digestive. After performing their latest single ‘Cheer up London’ to the loudest chorus of the night so far, Isaac regales the audience with the story of how a big foot was seen near his home town. Anybody who’s seen Slaves play before will know that this is the cue for fan favourite ‘Where’s Your Car Debbie?’

“It’s always the manta ray” remarks front man and drummer Isaac, “what a silly, silly stupid song”. This was of course after a man in a full manta ray costume joined them on stage for the entirety of ‘Feed the Manta Ray’. It’s this sense of fun and utter, utter ridiculousness which I feel endears Slaves to the audience. I mean seriously, at what point when you’re coming up with a live show do you think “this is good, but I can’t help feel like it’s missing some sort of aquatic dance number”.

Anyway, I digress. After not being allowed to perform their final song ‘Hey’ while playing at the 6 music festival I was delighted when I finally got to hear it. With the gritty fast paced opening riff evolving into the crashing cymbals a hot and sweaty audience give it their all. To bring the night to a close the two exhausted but giddy band members on the stage hurl themselves into the mass below, something which is known to music buffs as a “stage-dive”. Really hope they’ve put this much energy and fun into their upcoming album ‘Are You Satisfied?’.

DAVID BURD

One of the biggest bands on the planet right now, Muse have released their brand new video for ‘Dead Inside’ taken from their upcoming album Drones, due out June 9th.

What is it about the south coast of England? Every week it seems like some new talent from the area is announcing itself to the world. That’s exactly what Kent based four piece, VENTURE are doing with their brand new single ‘Until You Care’.

“We wrote the song about being torn between what you love to do and what you have to do. We all have choices like that to make and it’s never easy.” Luke Burgess – Vocals/Guitar.

We’re proud to be able to exclusively reveal the official video for ‘Until You Care’, which you can check out below along with a list of the bands upcoming live shows. The new single is available to download right now for free from VENTURE’s Bandcamp page.

APRIL
30 HERTFORD Dog & Whistle

MAY
1 MAIDSTONE Fringe Festival
30 LONDON Camden Rocks Festival

JUNE
4 CRAWLEY Anjelique

JULY
11 MARGATE Totally Wired

AUGUST
29 KENT Baypoint Festival

SEPTEMBER
12 BROADSTAIRS Wheels and Fins Festival

Check out Venture on Facebook

After 12 months hard graft building up an enviable local fan base, Kent based Alt-pop punk five piece, Doubt have given us an exclusive look at their debut video ‘Six Months’. This is the first track taken from the bands upcoming EP, due out April 27th.

“Six Months’ focuses on our progression within the band and how last year we were constantly in a state of flux and how this affected us. It paints a picture of how our journey started when we first entered the local scene and how, being the only band of our genre in the scene, has made us stronger individually and as a group. We filmed the video with our good friend Cairns Livingstone, who has done an amazing job on it and we are extremely happy with the final result and cannot wait for everyone to see it!” says drummer and co-songwriter Ben Schulze.

With influences such as Me vs Hero, Seahaven, Title Fight and Turnover all playing a vital role in shaping their sound, it’s true to say Doubt’s sound is always evolving, especially with the addition of new vocalist Charlie Winzar. Check out the exclusive first look at the video and Doubt’s live dates below.

JUNE
4 CRAWLEY Anjelique Bar W. Six Time Champion
19 WORTHING Bar 42, Buckfest W. Trash Boat & Despite My Deepest Fear

Doubt on Facebook

Last night BBC Radio 1 premiered ‘Cheer Up London’, the latest single from punk duo Slaves. The band have since announced that ‘Cheer Up London’ will be available as a 7″ from June 1st and that you can get the digital version instantly by pre-ordering ‘Are You Satisfied’ on iTunes.

7″ pre-orders here, artwork and stream below.

Slaves Facebook page of fun.