Walter Lure, guitarist-vocalist for ’70s punk pioneers The Heartbreakers (also known as Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers), has died at the age of 71. The veteran musician passed away Saturday (August 22nd) after being diagnosed with liver and lung cancer last year. The Heartbreakers (not to be confused with Tom Petty’s backing band of the same name) formed in New York City in 1975 after Johnny Thunders and drummer Jerry Nolan quit The New York Dolls. The pair were joined by bassist Richard Hell after he parted ways with Television, and eventually Walter Lure to round out its initial lineup. The band would become an early fixture of the New York City punk scene, playing iconic venues like CBGBs and Max’s Kansas City. By 1976, Hell quit the band and was replaced by Billy Rath, ce...
Happy birthday, Joe Strummer! The Clash frontman would have turned 68 today, August 21st, and some of the biggest names in entertainment came together to celebrate with a gargantuan livestream tribute. It included Bruce Springsteen, Bob Weir, Lucinda Williams, Jeff Tweedy, Josh Homme, and more, all while raising money for struggling live music venues. While the list of contributors is as starry as they come, “A Song for Joe: Celebrating the Life of Joe Strummer” placed the late icon front and center. It opened with Strummer’s voice offering a definition for himself: “Punk rock warlord, with warlord being one word.” Over a montage of dramatic photographs, the great songwriter explained how the music itself is separate from the intention. He said, “Music is not the point. What matters is how...
Legendary UK gothic punk act The Damned have announced a new EP, The Rockfield Files. In advance of the release, the band has unveiled a video for the single “Keep ‘Em Alive”. For the new effort, The Damned returned to Rockfield studios, where they recorded their early 1980s LPs The Black Album and Strawberries, as well as the Friday 13th EP. The Rockfield Files will arrive on October 16th, containing four new songs, including “Keep ‘Em Alive.” The lineup on the EP, which was recorded in 2019, includes classic members David Vanian, Captain Sensible, and Paul Gray, as well as Monty Oxymoron on keyboards and Andrew “Pinch” Pinching on drums. Pinch has since left the band, having played his final gig with The Damned on Halloween of last year. The songs were produced by Tom Dalgety, who w...
Punk-rock veterans Bad Religion have offered up a new reimagined version of their 1990 song “Faith Alone” as a “symphonic plea for reason” that reflects today’s times. The stripped-down reworking turns the original mid-tempo guitar-driven punk track into a piano-based ballad, letting singer Greg Graffin’s words take center stage. Eventually,… Please click the link below to read the full article. Bad Religion Reimagine “Faith Alone” as a “Symphonic Plea for Reason” in 2020: Stream Spencer Kaufman You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Online. So we reimagined what a dating should be. It begins with giving you back power. Get to meet Beautiful people, chat and make money in the process. Earn rewards by ...
Legendary Philadelphia punk rockers The Dead Milkmen are returning with a new 7-inch single later this month. One side is a cover of Heaven 17’s 1981 song “(We Don’t Need This) Fascist Groove Thang” and the other is an original tune called “A Complicated Faith”. The 7-inch single, which arrives… Please click the link below to read the full article. The Dead Milkmen Announce 7-Inch Single, Prep New Full-Length Album Spencer Kaufman You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Online. So we reimagined what a dating should be. It begins with giving you back power. Get to meet Beautiful people, chat and make money in the process. Earn rewards by chatting, sharing photos, blogging and help give users back their fair share of Internet r...
Hinds released their excellent new album The Prettiest Curse last month to help soundtrack our summer. While they were recording those songs, it turns out they were also rehearsing a cover of The Clash’s track “Spanish Bombs”. Now, they’ve released the studio version of that cover. Of course, “Spanish Bombs” comes from London Calling, The Clash’s iconic album and one of the most influential punk rock records of all time. While “Spanish Bombs” is a classic in its own right, the song has additional meaning for the members of Hinds because of its perspective on the Spanish Civil War — singer Joe Strummer was inspired to write about it after he heard about the Costa Brava hotel bombings on the radio at the time — as a piece of pop culture history. “The Clash were my mom’s forever favorite band...
Garage rocker Nobunny, a regular staple at Burger Records events, has issued a statement in which he admits to sexual misconduct involving underage women and states he is retiring from music. Justin Champlin, the artist who performs under the moniker Nobunny, released his statement earlier Thursday. In it, he says that he has not been publicly “called out” but wants to take responsibility for his previous actions. However, a post on @lured_by_burger_records — the Instagram account that detailed dozens of allegations against Burger Records’ bands, ultimately resulting in the label shutting down for good — claims that Nobunny engaged in online sexual activity with a 14-year-old despite knowing how old she was. Champlain’s statement begins by acknowledging and taking ownership of his pas...
The Replacements have announced a new deluxe box set of their acclaimed fifth studio album, Pleased to Meet Me. Due out October 9th from Rhino, the collection showcases 29 never-before-released tracks from the band, including their final recordings with guitarist Bob Stinson. Remastered by Justin Perkins (who handled the same duties on last year’s excellent Dead Man’s Pop box), the Pleased to Meet Me deluxe edition is spread across three CDs and one 12-inch vinyl record. The first CD features the original LP along with B-sides and rarities, capped off with a Jimmy Iovine remix of the classic “Can’t Hardly Wait”. Disc 2 captures the summer 1986 sessions at Minneapolis’ Blackberry Way Studios that led up to the final album. Amongst the 15 demos are 11 previously unreleased recordings, t...
Ken Chinn (aka Mr. Chi Pig) of SNFU Ken Chinn (a.k.a. Mr. Chi Pig), the singer of influential Canadian hardcore-punk band SNFU, has died at the age of 57. No cause of death has been disclosed, but the vocalist previously revealed in a December 2019 interview with Beatroute that he was in failing health and had a short time to live. The origins of SNFU — short for Society’s No F**king Use — date back to 1981, when Chinn first formed the punk band Live Sex Shows in Edmonton with twin-brother guitarists Marc and Brent Belke. While that outfit would break up later that year, the three musicians re-formed as SNFU shortly thereafter, going through a series of drummers and bassists throughout the ’80s. From 1985 through 1988, they released three albums, beginning with their debut, …And No One Els...
Illuminati Hotties have unveiled the new mixtape Free I.H.: This Is Not The One You’ve Been Waiting For. Stream it below with Apple Music and Spotify. With humor, compassion, and thrashing guitars, Illuminati Hotties have become synonymous with Los Angeles’ “tenderpunk” movement. Free I.H. is the follow-up to 2018’s Kiss Yr Frenemies, and was written during a messy breakup with indie label Tiny Engines. The label engaged in some, uh, questionable accounting practices, and like so much kick-ass punk music, Free I.H. comes from a place of getting royally (or royalty) fucked. Bandleader Sarah Tudzin wrote the mixtape in February, before COVID-19 had become a global nightmare. In an interview with Stereogum, she spoke of composing songs about a messed-up world, and th...