According to the site for the band's tour management, Pennywise has delayed their tour until Spring 2010. This isn't really surprising; what is surprising is that the site has also revealed that the band is currently working on a new release.

In a short, somewhat cryptic message, Destiny Tourbooking simply states:

PENNYWISE TOUR

band is working on a new release so
Has been moved till Spring 2010
all dates should be up again soon

Does this mean the band has found a new singer to replace Jim Lindberg, who announced he was leaving back in August? Is it Ignite's Zoli Teglas, who stepped in as a temporary replacement in September? Or will it be somebody else entirely new?

The answer remains to be seen, but we're going to be watching this story for sure.

Jerry Fuchs, the drummer for a pile of indie-rock and dance-punk outfits died tragically in a fall down an elevator shaft early Sunday morning. He was 34.

According to the New York Times, Fuchs had attended a benefit party in an industrial building in Brooklyn when he got stuck on a freight elevator between the building's fourth and fifth floors. While attempting to jump out of the car, his jacket got caught and he fell to the bottom of the shaft.

Over the years, Fuchs has played for a wide range of bands, including the instrumental rock band Turing Machine, the dance-punk outfit The Juan MacLean and most recently with Maserati, but I'll always know his work best from his time with !!! (pronounced "chk, chk, chk") on their album Myth Takes.

Fuchs was one of those drummers that was like a human metronome, and on Myth Takes (and indeed with his other work) he laid down beats that were sometimes huge, sometimes funky and always very tight. Even when he was playing big monster drum fills it was never sloppy, and his rhythms were always as tight as if they'd been performed by a drum machine, without the fakeness of one.

On his Web site, The Juan MacLean frontman John Maclean had this to say:

Jerry was one of my best and most loyal friends. He was hands-down the best drummer I have ever played with or seen for that matter. Jerry was with me from the start of The Juan MacLean, and we had countless adventures together all over the world. He was utterly sincere and fiercely loyal. During a particularly difficult time, while backstage in a club in Chicago, Jerry told me "Juan, I will follow you to the end of the earth and I will always be there for you." That was Jerry, the greatest drummer in the world, the greatest friend you could ever have.

We'd like to extend our condolences to his friends, family and bandmates over this tragic event.

Photo © Mike White, Courtesy of Maserati

I love punk covers. There's nothing like when a band takes a well-known song and subjects it to their whims, forcing it to be something other than the original writer intended it. Whether it's better, worse, funny or thought provoking, I really am a sucker for them.

Rarely, it goes in the other direction, as in the case of this list compiled by Boyhowdy at Cover Lay Down. The music blogger has assembled a list of Music MP3s by folk artists, doing covers of punk classics.

You're sure to find immediate favorites in this list of revised classics. I know I did with Frank Turner's cover of Bad Brains' "Pay to Come," The Indigo Girls' take on the Clash's "Clampdown" and Allo, Darlin's cover of "I Wanna Be Sedated."

But don't take my word for it, go here and download them yourselves.

A few weeks ago, clothing Store PacSun announced the lineup and dates for the 2009 PacTour, with Saosin, P.O.S., Innerpartysystem, and Eye Alaska.

As part of the tour, PacSun stores near each tour stop will play host to PacTour bands each day of the tour for free in-store acoustic and meet and greet sessions. They've now released the schedule for these in-store performances, as well as who'll be playing in each town.

The performances are scheduled to start at 3:30pm on each date. Check with your local PacSun store for more details.

Dates are listed below. Read more...