Punk Music

If Dropkick Murphys are Boston's way of making sure that the bagpipes have a prominent place in the punk world, Crazy & The Brains are New Jersey's way of saying "Hey, what about the xylophone?"

On Let Me Go, the Jersey four-piece paint a quirky xylophone-powered picture of punk rock. It's a bit quirky at times, but heavily laden with a true sense of DIY credibility.

The band's debut full length is out on Baldy Longhair Records today. You can read the full review by clicking below.

Crazy & The Brains - Let Me Go

Boston's favorite sons, Dropkick Murphys are continuing to provide aid to the victims of the Boston Marathon bombing. Last week, they released the Rose Tattoo: For Boston Charity EP, which contains three tracks, including a new version of "Rose Tattoo" that features Bruce Springsteen, as well as live acoustic versions of "Don't Tear Us Apart" and "Jimmy Collins's Wake."

The EP is available exclusively through iTunes for $1.29 (you can get it here), and 100% of the proceeds from these shirts will be donated to the band's official 501(c)3 charity, Claddagh Fund.

This is the second time the band has gotten involved in aiding the victims of the bombing, with the first being the release of special edition t-shirts (an effort they were later joined in by Gaslight Anthem).

Legendary Pogues guitarist Phil Chevron has announced that he has been diagnosed with terminal cancer. Chevron had battled the head and neck cancer once, receiving treatment in 2007 followed by a clean bill of health in 2012, but doctors have discovered a new tumor in an area that is inoperable, as treatment could cause a stroke.

Although his life expectancy is not being discussed, Chevron said simply, "This time the cancer is lethal."

We'd like to wish the best to Chevron, his family, friends and bandmates in the trying times ahead.

Photo ©Nicole Lucas

In his latest L.A. Weekly column, former Black Flag frontman Henry Rollins addresses the topic of "Why I'm Not Playing Music Anymore."

And let's just say that, while he doesn't name names, you know who he's talking about:

I got asked by someone if I was going to go on tour this summer and play what at this point is old music. I told the person that I wasn't because that currently, my future is getting in the way of my past.

I tell you this because in the summer months, you can count on bands that have been gone for years who will reassemble and go onto stages all over the world playing "vintage music." Perhaps they are on a Proustian mission to recapture that which has been lost. I read the interviews where the musicians claim that now they can really play this music. I don't doubt them, but therein lies the problem. Musicians should not play Music. Music should play musicians.

Bands that think they have a handle on Music are no longer battling the beast. They think they have mastered Music. They have not.

His full column is here.

On a possibly unrelated note, there are two Black Flag Reunions on tour this summer, both loaded with former members of the band. One is the Keith Morris-fronted FLAG, and the other is the fully-named Black Flag, reformed by founding member Greg Ginn.To help you sort it all out, we have established the following primers on the lineups of both bands:

• Would The Real Black Flag Please Stand Up?
• Black Flag and FLAG - A Look at the Lineups

Photo credit: pellesten / Foter.com / CC BY

As Warped Tour creeps ever closer, the folks at Vans have added another bunch of bands to the lineup for the Acoustic Basement stage.

They are:

Charlotte Sometimes (7/6-7, 7/10, 7/16)
Joey Briggs (6/15-6/21, 6/23-6/28)
Travis Alexander (7/11-7/14)
American Opera (7/17-7/20)
Tidewater (8/2-8/4)
McDougall (6/15-6/16)
Mandolyn Mae (7/23-7/24)
City of Ghosts (7/31)
Tess Dunn (6/22)
Tyler Matl (7/25)

Perhaps the most exciting addition to that list is an acoustic set from Briggs frontman Joey Briggs. He has a sound that transitions well to an acoustic performance, and his full band's set was one of the highlights of the 2008 Warped Tour.

We're keeping tabs on all the official announcements, as well as the rumors, on our listing of the lineup for the 2013 Vans Warped Tour.

p>After just making their first lineup announcement, the Chicago Riot Fest is not only proving to have picked up its biggest and most impressive lineup yet, but is once again proving to have one of the best punk festival lineups in the country.

The festival, which takes place Sept. 13-15 in Humboldt Park has already announced Fall Out Boy and Blink-182 as two of the festival's three headliners (with the third yet to be revealed), with support coming from legendary acts that range from Bob Mould to Public enemy to the Violent Femmes to GWAR. Check out the full lineup below:

Chicago Riot Fest Lineup 2013

FLAG - the Black Flag reunion comprised of Black Flag alum Keith Morris, Chuck Dukowski, Dez Cadena, Bill Stevenson, and Descendents' guitarist Stephen Egerton - have posted more tour dates for 2013.

FLAG 2013 Tour Dates

5-27 Las Vegas, NV - Punk Rock Bowling
6-7 Pittsburgh, PA - Stage AE
6-8 Detroit, MI - Orion Music + More Festival
6-9 Cleveland, OH - Grog Shop
6-13 Buffalo, NY - Town Ballroom
6-14 Toronto, Ontario - NXNE Festival
6-15 Montebello, Quebec - Amnesia Rock Fest
8-24 Los Angeles, CA - FYF Fest
9-13 Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue
9-16 Baltimore, MD - Baltimore Soundstage
9-18 Philadelphia, PA - Trocadero
9-19 New York, NY - Irving Plaza
9-20 Boston, MA - The Paradise

The band also shared a video from their first show as FLAG, which took place at the Moose Lodge in Redondo Beach, CA. Historically, it's also the same space where the original Black Flag played their first show in 1979. The band performs the classic track "My War," and you can see the video here.

FLAG is just one of two bands on the road performing Black Flag songs this summer.

The other, using the full Black Flag name, was reformed by founding member Greg Ginn, features its own set of Black Flag alums along with some new face, and they will be taking their own Black Flag show on the road.To help you sort it all out, we have established the following primers on the lineups of both bands:

• Would The Real Black Flag Please Stand Up?
• Black Flag and FLAG - A Look at the Lineups

Deep Elm Records is giving away free downloads of eight sampler albums - 99 songs in total - of the bands on its roster.

You can get them here.

Gogol Bordello is giving away the track "Malandrino," from their upcoming release, Pura Vida Conspiracy (due out on July 23).

You can get it here.

Ever go to a show without knowing anything about the band? I mean, just go because you want to check out music?

I know, me too. All the time.

Evidently, that can lead to your being denied admission to a show, as one attendee in Wales found out, after security denied him admission to a Vaccines concert for knowing too little about the band.

Here's the full story.