If you’re wondering why the previously unstoppable churn of our blog has slowed to a snail’s pace, its that the majority of the Synthesis office is currently suffering from a debilitating case of WordDepression, which has necessitated the inputting by hand of the oodles of HTML code that makes our blog fancy. And since we’re all basically lazy pieces of shit, we’ve been sitting on our hands, waiting for our blog-guru Na3s to come through and save the day once again. However, something happened today, of such great magnitude, of such utter import that I am forced to bring it to you, hand-coding and all.

This event is known in office parlance as “Worth My While,” which is what we call it when someone sends us free shit, making our time spent building this machine worth our while. Today’s bringer of worthiness are our old friends at Saucony shoes, who were kind enough to lace me and fellow Synthesis Editorial Mastermind Spencer up (pun intended) with a free pair of Saucony Jazz kicks just because we rep their shit on this here blog. And this isn’t even the first time! Back in 2006, Saucony was also responsible for saving the lives of myself and Mr. Teilmann at SXSW, when they provided us footwear suited well to the marathon of walking that is covering SXSW, something we had both neglected to think of ahead of time (note: the dudes who used to play basketball in Chuck Taylors must have hated their lives after every game, or just been tough ass motherfuckers). If you’ve never worn a pair of Saucony Jazz shoes you seriously don’t know what you’re missing. They feel so smooth its like walking on a pair of babies asses. If you’re feeling adventurous, pick up a pair at Zappos.com TODAY!

So the moral of the story is, even if you have a busted ass Wordpress blog, you can still get rad ass folks at sweet shoe companies to recognize game. Thanks Team Saucony!!!111

As if Against Me!, All That Remains, Anberlin, Angels and Airwaves, As I Lay Dying, Bouncing Souls, Cobra Starship, Every Time I Die, From First to Last, GBH, Gym Class Heroes, Jack’s Mannequin, Motion City Soundtrack, Norma Jean, Paramore, Pennywise, Reel Big Fish, Relient K, Rise Against, Say Anything, Story of the Year, Street Dogs, The Academy Is…, The All-American Rejects, The Bronx, The Dillinger Escape Plan and The Vandals weren’t enough, it was announced today that Matisyahu and Chiodos will both be joining the mainstage of the 2008 Warped Tour for a limited number of dates:

The VANS WARPED TOUR 2008 Presented By AT&T has announced two new additions for a portion of this summer’s trek. Matisyahu will join the tour for the July 9 (Atlanta), July 10 (Orlando), July 11 (Tampa) and the July 13 (Jacksonville) shows. Also look for Chiodos to perform a one-night-only show on July 18 in Detroit at Comerica Park.

“I’m really glad this opportunity came up with Matisyahu,” notes tour founder Kevin Lyman. “He’s an artist I’ve always felt would be an amazing addition to the line up, so I’m excited to have him finally join us for a bit. It’s always great to have a band like Chiodos–who’s been a part of the Warped family since the beginning of their careers–want to come back after all their success to spend a day with us.”

If you dig Chiodos but don’t live in Detroit fret not, you can check out a couple dope videos of the band live from this year’s SXSW festival on the Synthesis YouTube page, along with more than a couple interviews and rap sessions with various members of the band. We’re here for you, man.

Cool Kids, who you can check out above live at The Red Bull House in Ausin during SXSW, are set to release their debut EP on Chocolate Industries later this month:

Chicago-based hip-hop duo The Cool Kids are set to release their debut EP on Chocolate Industries on May 20th exclusively on iTunes, and June 10th on CD and other digital outlets. Heralded by Rolling Stone and many others as an artist to watch in 2008, The Cool Kids have recently toured Europe and Australia as well as selling out shows nationwide. This spring and summer finds them doing spot dates in America, hitting Europe again June 14-July 14, rocking Lollapalooza and appearing on many of the dates on the Rock the Bells tour.

The band will also be on tour this summer in the US and Europe, dates after the jump, as per custom

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I love Bun B. I think he should have his own reality show and maybe live next door to the Kardashians. Here, in an AOL commissioned vid, he schools you on “trill”. Put that on mamas!

For more UGK vids, check out Synthesis exclusive SXSW 2008 content:

Interview with Cory Mo…

Spencer recently turned me on (like he usually does) to The English Beat, a ska’ish, up tempo group with slick dance moves. Coincidentally, we happened to film them at SXSW a couple of weeks ago. Check out the video below.

I will always have a soft spot in my heart of hidden hearts for Fat Wreck Chords figureheads NOFX, despite the fact that my pubescent, nascent punk rock months were really short-lived. Here, Mike is bored with life and music, hates the usual spots he plays, hates TV people, and yeah, likes drugs and shit.

“Hey I’m Jewish, I can say ‘goddamned jews.’”

He says he likes Tat, who I met for a second at the Four Seasons. They were nice dudes. Fat Mike is a lovable jerk, isn’t he?