news

Altpress Exclusive: Check out cover art for the new Rocket Summer EP!

Tim Karan on 10/15/09 @ 4:43 PM

Altpress.com is proud to unveil the cover art for the Rocket Summer's upcoming EP, You Gotta Believe. It's the first official release from the band since 2007's Do You Feel. The new, four-song EP will be released Oct. 27, but we'll have a special surprise for you tomorrow...

In the meantime, check out the EP artwork!

Cursive announce headlining dates

Tim Karan on 10/15/09 @ 3:32 PM

Cursive have revealed dates for a run of headlining dates starting in late November and ending on Dec. 13 at Lash's 6th Annual Toy Drive at the Waiting Room in the band's hometown of Omaha, Nebraska. The band will be in support of their most recent full-length, Mama, I'm Swollen.

Dates are as follows:
NOV. 24 LAWRENCE, KS BOTTLENECK
NOV. 25 SPRINGFIELD, MO OUTLAND BALLROOM
NOV. 27 DENTON, TX HAILEY'S
NOV. 28 AUSTIN, TX MOHAWK
NOV. 29 MCALLEN, TX CINE EL REY
DEC. 3 MOBILE, AL ALABAMA MUSIC BOX
DEC. 4 PENSACOLA, FL SLUGGO'S
DEC. 5 ORLANDO, FL THE SOCIAL
DEC. 6 GAINESVILLE, FL COMMON GROUNDS
DEC. 7 ATLANTA, GA LENNY'S
DEC. 8 OXFORD, MS PROUD LARRY'S
DEC. 9 LITTLE ROCK, AR THE REV ROOM
DEC. 10 FAYETTEVILLE, AR GEORGE'S MAJESTIC LOUNGE
DEC. 11 COLUMBIA, MO MOJO'S
DEC. 13 OMAHA, NE WAITING ROOM (LASH'S 6TH ANNUAL TOY DRIVE)

Watch the video for the band's "Let Me Up" below.

Hawthorne Heights talk about upcoming album, reveal tour dates

Tim Karan on 10/15/09 @ 3:11 PM

Hawthorne Heights have announced that their upcoming full-length, Skeletons, will be released early next year and that the band will play songs from the release during their fall tour. Frontman JT Woodruff had this to say about Skeletons: "This album sounds like us, but we were able to grow our sound. We took it down to the essentials, the skeleton of who we are as a band. We then tried on some new skins, and added the flesh and blood. We're just excited to play these new songs and see how people react to them."

Hawthorne Heights will give out a limited number of download cards for the new song, "Unforgivable," at each stop of the tour.

Dates are as follows:
11/2 Grog Shop Cleveland Heights, OH
11/3 Small Planet East Lansing, MI
11/4 The Pike Room at Crofoot Ballroom Pontiac, MI
11/5 Uncle Pleasant's Louisville, KY
11/6 Diesel Pittsburgh, PA
11/7 Mohawk Place Buffalo, NY
11/8 The Palladium Worcester, MA
11/9 Webster Undergound Hartford, CT
11/10 Eleanor Rigby's Jermyn, PA
11/11 Higher Ground Burlington, VT
11/12 Knitting Factory Brooklyn, NY
11/13 School of Rock S. Hackensack, NJ
11/14 Crocodile Rock Allentown, PA
11/15 Ottobar Baltimore, MD
11/16 The Labelle Theater South Charleston, WV
11/17 Jammin' Java Vienna, VA
11/18 The Brewery Raleigh, NC
11/19 New Brookland Tavern Columbia, SC
11/20 Alpha Tau Omega House Orlando, FL
11/21 Captain Fun Beach Club Pensacola Beach, FL
11/22 Common Grounds Gainesville, FL
11/23 The National Guard Armory Panama City, FL
11/24 The Casbah at Tremont Music Hall Charlotte, NC
11/25 Rocketown Nashville, TN
11/27 Reggie's Live Chicago, IL
11/28 Triple Rock Social Club Minneapolis, MN
11/29 House of Bricks Des Moines, IA
12/1 Warehouse Nightclub La Crosse, WI
12/2 Sokol Auditorium Omaha, NE
12/3 Hi-Dive Denver, CO
12/5 Murray Theater Murray, UT
12/6 The Venue Boise, ID
12/7 Hawthorne Theatre Portland, OR
12/8 The Underground Reno, NV
12/9 The Boardwalk Sacramento, CA
12/10 Chain Reaction Anaheim, CA
12/11 The Rock Tucson, AZ
12/13 Launch Pad Albuquerque, NM
12/15 House of Blues Cambridge Room Dallas, TX
12/16 Zombie's San Antonio, TX
12/17 Meridian Houston, TX
12/18 Conservatory Oklahoma City, OK
12/19 Fubar St. Louis, MO
12/20 Southgate House Newport, KY

Chris Walla and J. Robbins collaborate on a song for NPR

Tim Karan on 10/15/09 @ 2:57 PM

Death Cab For Cutie guitarist and uber-producer Chris Walla recently teamed up with Jawbox/Burning Airlines/Channels frontman and uber-producer J. Robbins to write and record a song in two days for NPR's Project Song Challenge. The pair had never met before they walked into the studio to work on the song, "Mercury." You can watch videos of the making of the song and hear "Mercury" here. Robbins' band, Jawbox, recently announced that they would reunite after 12 years to play Late Night With Jimmy Fallon in December.

New Winds Of Plague keyboardist announced

Tim Karan on 10/15/09 @ 12:29 PM

Seems like only yesterday we were bringing you news that Winds Of Plague keyboardist Kristen Randall had left the band. Well, it actually was yesterday. But today, the band have announced who will be replacing her: ex-Kittie guitarist Lisa Marx. Marx will join the band for their fall tour kicking off Nov. 20.

Frontman Jonathan Cooke had this to say about the personnel change and upcoming tour: ""We just completed an extremely successful Japanese tour with our brothers in Terror and made a few much needed changes within our camp upon returning home. We owe it to our dedicated fans to bring them the best show possible each and every night and the addition of Lisa Marx to our lineup is going to allow just that. We are currently holed up rehearsing intensely for the upcoming headlining fall tour and we are pulling out all the stops with this event."

Tour dates are as follows:
11/20 Soma - San Diego, CA
11/21 The Crossing - Lancaster, CA
11/22 Karma - Victorville, CA
11/23 Empire Theater - Stockton, CA
11/24 The Boardwalk - Sacramento, CA
11/25 V2 - Layton , UT
11/27 Marquis Theatre - Denver, CO
11/28 Club OZ - Wichita, KS
11/29 Mojoes - Chicago, IL
11/30 Eagle Theatre - Detroit, MI
12/01 Phoenix Theatre - Toronto, ON (CAN)
12/02 Tulipe - Montreal, QC (CAN)
12/03 The Palladium - Worcester, MA
12/04 Crocodile Rock - Allentown, PA
12/05 Gramercy Theatre - New York, NY
12/06 hangar 84 - Vineland, NJ
12/07 Jaxx - Springfield, VA
12/08 The Masquerade - Atlanta, GA
12/09 Edge - Jacksonville, FL
12/10 The Legion - Pensacola, FL
12/11 Meridian - Houston, TX
12/12 White Rabbit - san Antonio, TX
12/13 Jagz - McAllen, TX
12/14 Ridglea Theater - Ft. Worth, TX
12/15 The Marquee - Tulsa, OK
12/16 The Launchpad - Albuquerque, NM
12/17 The Clubhouse - Phoenix, AZ
12/18 The Farm - Las Vegas, NV
12/19 The Glasshouse - Pomona, CA

Rivers Cuomo to write with Katy Perry

Tim Karan on 10/15/09 @ 10:58 AM

Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo revealed in an interview that he will be working with Katy Perry in the near future. Although it's unclear what exactly the duo will be collaborating on, it's possible that it might be for Perry's upcoming follow-up to One Of The Boys. Cuomo has been in a cooperative mood these days: A few weeks ago, word got out that Weezer had joined up with rapper Lil Wayne, members of the All-American Rejects and others for the band's upcoming album, Raditude.