Garbage have posted a video of a new photoshoot and the members discuss their forthcoming album.
The alt-rock legends have completed their fifth album, and their first in seven years, and according to the band it sounds 'vibe-wise' like their earlier stuff.
In a video posted on their YouTube channel, super-producer and drummer Butch Vig says that, while not exactly sounding like their late-'90s breakthroughs, it has the same vibe. He promises 'anger and intensity' also 'optimism and hope'.
Original members Duke Erikson and Steve Marker also offer their takes, but singer Shirley Manson remains quiet, fronting the band for a photoshoot in LA with photographer Autumn De Wilde (who has previously shot album covers for White Stripes, Beck, Wilco and more).
A title and release date are yet to be confirmed. Check the clip out below.
Self-titled albums are one thing. But when a band names one of its songs after itself — or, alternately, when a band names itself after one of its songs — it’s a pretty big deal. The song itself comes off looking something like a mission statement, an encapsulation of everything that the band means. When Bad Company names a song “Bad Company,” they want you to know that this song is what they’re all about.
Not too many bands have been brave enough to attempt this trick throughout history. For some reason, a lot of the bands who did attempt it were either metal or hardcore. We’ve collected 20 of them below, and some of them are pretty great. We’ve weeded out all the songs that are only partially named after the groups, which means we’ve weeded out some more pretty great songs. Honorable mentions include Queen’s “Killer Queen,” the Clash’s “This Is Radio Clash,” Big Country’s “In A Big Country,” the Stray Cats’ “Stray Cat Strut,” Das-EFX’s “They Want EFX,” Nas’s “Nas Is Like,” Refused’s “Refused Are Fucking Dead,” Wilco’s “Wilco (The Song),” and of course the Monkees’ “(Theme From) The Monkees.”
Check out our selections and stream the songs below. And in the comments section, let us know what we forgot.
18. They Might Be Giants – “They Might Be Giants” (1989)
19. Titus Andronicus – “Titus Andronicus” (2008)
20. Youth Of Today – “Youth Of Today” (1986)
* “Motörhead” gets an asterisk because it’s a cover, after a fashion. Before Lemmy founded Motörhead, he was a member of Hawkwind, and Hawkwind’s song “Motörhead” is what gave Lemmy’s new band its name. Also, I couldn’t find versions of “New Kids On The Block” by New Kids On The Block or “Judas Priest” by Judas Priest on YouTube. And that’s a live version of “Meat Puppets” and a demo version of “They Might Be Giants.” Rare misses, YouTube.
Bruce Springsteen is close to announcing his 17th studio album and a U.S. tour with the E Street Band. Springsteen's manager Jon Landau tells Rolling Stone that the record is an ambitious "big-picture piece of work. It's a rock record that combines elements of both Bruce's classic sound and his Seeger Sessions experience, with new textures and styles." Music was played for Sony recently, according to The Hollywood Reporter, whose source described the songs as having "unexpected textures – loops, electronic percussion... influences and rhythms from hip-hop to Irish folk rhythms."
The disc was produced by Ron Aniello, who has previously worked on albums by Candlebox, Jars of Clay and the last LP by Springsteen's wife, Patti Scialfa. Members of the E Street Band play on the album, along with a variety of outside musicians, including Tom Morello and possibly former Pearl Jam drummer Matt Chamberlain, who has often recorded on Aniello's projects. "It was an experimental effort with a new producer," says Landau. "Bruce and Ron used a wide variety of players to create something that both rocks and is very fresh."
According to Landau, the record has "social overtones" – although it was largely written before Occupy Wall Street began and doesn't directly address the movement. The LP also has a "very pronounced spiritual dimension," adds Landau. "It extends and deepens the vision that has animated all of Bruce's work." According to The Hollywood Reporter's source, "[Bruce] gets into economic justice quite a bit. He feels it's the angriest album he's ever made."
The E Street Band will spend most of 2012 on the road, including spring and fall U.S. runs and a summer European tour. Dates haven't been announced, but concert-business sources tell Rolling Stone the band has arenas booked starting in March, including an Austin show around Springsteen's March 15th keynote address at the South by Southwest festival. One big question is how the group will address last summer's death of saxophonist Clarence Clemons, Springsteen's onstage foil for four decades.
Coachella just posted this year’s lineup on its Facebook and Twitter. Headliners for the double weekend festival are Black Keys (Friday), Radiohead (Saturday), and Dr. Dre & Snoop Dogg (Sunday). Even more exciting are the acts highlighting the Recently Reunited undercard: At The Drive-In, Refused, Mazzy Star, and Pulp. This year’s event goes down April 13-15 and April 20-22, so double your sunscreen budget.
Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi has been diagnosed with the "early stages of lymphoma," according to a statement sent out by the band's publicist. "His bandmates would like everyone to send positive vibes to the guitarist at this time," the statement says. "Iommi is currently working with doctors to establish the best treatment plan. The 'Iron Man' of Rock and Roll remains upbeat and determined to make a full and successful recovery."
Two months ago the original lineup of Black Sabbath announced plans to record their first album of new material since 1978's Never Say Die! with producer Rick Rubin. They had been working in Los Angeles, but Iommi's diagnosis has caused them to move recording over to England.
Black Sabbath are also scheduled to kick off a world tour May 18th in Moscow. It's unclear whether or not Iommi's treatment will have any impact on these plans. The group hasn't toured since 2005, though the Ronnie James Dio-led lineup of Black Sabbath toured extensively from 2007 through Dio's death from stomach cancer in 2010.
Iommi published his biography Iron Man: My Journey Through Heaven and Hell with Black Sabbath last year.
An important thing to remember about the Guided By Voices reunion: They were the weird old guys in the club the first time around, too. Back in the day, the music press had an easy time lumping them in with the then-ascendant wave of lo-fi indie rock wiseacres: Pavement, Sebadoh, Smog, about a million others. And there were similarities, certainly: slapdash recording techniques, lyrical obtuseness, general lack of fashion sense. But they were also old enough to remember the Camaro-rock anthems of the 70s and drunk enough to attempt their own versions of those songs. Robert Pollard was the only one of his peers who sang in anything like a fake British accent, and his records tended to pile on the big juicy Cheap Tricked-out hooks. They tended to come off less like new-era art-school travelers and more like dudes who were rocking as hard as they could with whatever meager resources they had at their disposal. When they recorded Isolation Drills, making the leap to a bigger label and an actual professional producer, it didn’t feel as forced as we might’ve expected. And maybe that’s why they’re able to get together without missing a step; they’re still those same old guys rocking as hard as they possibly can. When you listen to GBV’s brand-new Let’s Go Eat The Factory, there are a few layers of nostalgia at work. When you’re listening to a ’90s band’s reunion album — the reunion album from the classic mid-’90s lineup, at that — that’s one form of retro. When the band spent their glory years perfecting a version of beered-up ’70s power-pop, that’s another form. And in some of their prettier moments, GBV sound like they’re doing their own take on Big Star, who were themselves doing their own take on British Invasion psych and sweetly starry-eyed early-’60s AM-radio pop. If you start theorizing about this stuff too hard, you can get dizzy and lose the thread. So here’s what matters: The new Guided By Voices delivers in the same way that their recent reunion shows have delivered. It gives us a band somehow immune to time’s ravages, still blasting through the same madly catchy drunken jams that they did for so long. Unlike plenty of the people who read this site, I’ve never been a GBV superfan; it’s always been a like-not-love situation with me. And I have the same minor issues with the band as I’ve always had. I wish their rhythm section would punch harder, and I wish they’d ditch the few obligatory mid-album songs where everyone just seems to be halfassing it. (This time around, “The Big Hat And Toy Show” is probably the greatest offender.) For converts, though, GBV’s flaws-and-all maximalism was a big part of the appeal, and I can’t imagine any of them will be disappointed. And even if you were just a casual fan, there’s a ton to like here. Of the 21 songs here, probably 15 have gigantic, indelible hooks, and you can’t front on that batting average. A few weeks ago, the band canceled all their 2012 live dates, and it was widely reported that they’d broken up again, a news story that their reps quickly debunked. Apparently, they’re already working on another new album. This sequence of events seems exactly right. This band should always move in shadowy chaos, and there seems to be no reason why they couldn’t crank out another 15 albums as solid as this one. It’s just how they work.
Let’s Go Eat The Factory is out now on GBV Inc. Stream it at NPR. This column has been on hiatus for the past few weeks, mostly because record-release schedules slow to a crawl during the holidays. Let’s Go Eat The Factory is really the only notable album that’s out this week, but this isn’t a default pick; it really does merit your attention. Also, I thought Young Jeezy’s new album, out two weeks ago, was pretty good.