I’m not sure how I’m feeling about the new Metallica songs.  Sure, they’re lightyears beyond St. Anger, but thats besides the point.  If you’re eating a bad sandwich, and someone says it’s a ton better than eating shit, that’s not saying much… amiright?

2 positives are that Lars replaced that horrid sounding snare drum from St. Anger with something a little better, and that Hammett is back to playing screaming leads. Besides that, nothing too special. Oh, the video is long, drawn out and has something to do with war, but I got distracted at about 4 minutes deep… see if you can top my record.

Metallica - The Day That Never Comes

Something that sounds an awful lot like the as-yet-unreleased new Emery EP, While Broken Hearts Prevail, is currently streaming on Myspace under the name “Carl Winslow”. Whoever it is, it sounds fucking badass.

If you haven’t realized, we have a tab on our page entitled ‘Sweeps‘.  Roll on over to check out some of the free stuff we’re giving away.  We’ve got hot shwag from Shwayze, CSNY, Sick of Sarah, Def Leppard, Atmosphere, a bajillion graphic designers… really, the list is huge.  This stuff is laying in a giant, well kept mound on Ms. Nickel’s desk, and she’s fed up with it.  Go check it out, sign up and win!

Google just did a demo of their HTC Dream phone that has long been a rumor. It’s got a super cool navigation feature that you can check out in the video, and a touch screen, but it’s still got buttons (sliding keyboard) and lacks a bunch of other features that still make it the iPhone’s bitch.

It’s been 13 years coming, but Connor Oberst will finally be releasing another solo album. The Bright Eyes front man teamed up with long time friend/engineer Andy LeMaster in Tepoztlán, Morelos, México (a mysterious city known for Aztec Magic among other strange phenomenons) to record the self-titled release, set to hit stores August 5th 2008, according to Merge Records…

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The new Reggie & The Full Effect record, Last Stop: Crappy Town, which was supposed to come out in 2006, will finally see the light of day on June 17th. FUCKING STOKED!!!!!!111 Here’s the press release:

April 9, 2008 – REGGIE & THE FULL EFFECT will release their long awaited fifth Vagrant full-length on June 17th, entitled, Last Stop: Crappy Town.

The 12-track disc was produced by Sean Beavan (Marilyn Manson, NIN, Slayer) and was recorded over the summer of 2006 in both New York City and Los Angeles.

James Dewees, the conservatory-trained keyboardist (for The Get Up Kids, New Found Glory and My Chemical Romance), drummer (for seminal metal act Coalesce) and protagonist behind Reggie & The Full Effect, was joined in the studio by Billy Johnson (RATFE touring drummer) and bassist Paul Grey (better known as #2 from Slipknot) and Cory White (of Coalesce) on guitar.

“Just two weeks after we started, we had this concept record about the NYC transit system. Particularly the subways in Brooklyn – with the songs connecting together like trains in the station,” says Dewees. “I also have to mention Sean Beavan has a great falsetto, his wife has a fantastic voice, and Stevie Cruz can scream his head off in an hour. So that was that. Except on this record, there was nothing remotely reminiscent of the Reggie that fans were expecting.”

Dewees goes on to say, “I think everyone can relate to the fact that sometimes being funny all the time just isn’t fun all the time. Don’t think for a sec that the goofy James is gone, just ask my wife. She is up to her ears in goofy every day of the week.”

“I’m 32 yrs old and fortunate enough to have been a part of this scene pretty much from the old days of $5 ten-band basement shows with Jimmy Eat World and Jejune. In summary, I like this record a lot because it pulls from the last 13 years of my life. I hope you enjoy it too.”

Last Stop: Crappy Town track listing:
G
Smith & 9TH
F
E
3RD AVE
L
J
V
LORIMER ST
R
36TH ST
N