Music News Jan 2006

50ft Monster, Thursday, The Cure & AFI

Check out Brian and Neil's (members of Catherine Wheel) new band, 50ft Monster, at the following 2 links. They have 2 demo songs up and have plans to release an album in 2006.

http://www.50ftmonster.com/50ftmonster.htm

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=44945136

Thursday Working Quickly On New Album

Bram Teitelman, N.Y.; from October 2005:

New Jersey-based rock act Thursday is a week into recording its second Island album with producer Dave Fridmann at his Tarbox Studios in Freedonia, N.Y. The as-yet-untitled set is tentatively due in April and is the follow-up to 2003's "War All the Time," which debuted at No. 7 on The Billboard 200.

"We'd always liked his records," singer Geoff Rickly tells Billboard.com of the decision to work with Fridmann. "We've always had a hard time fitting in all the stuff we do, with two guitars doing both rhythm and leads, keyboards and everyone in the band singing different parts. It's always gotten kind of cluttered, and one of the things he does best is keep track of a lot of information. Also, when he got the demos, he freaked out about how much he loved them, and it always helps when someone likes what you're doing and wants to work with you."

This will be Thursday's first project not recorded with producer Sal Villanueva, which Rickly says has given the band new perspective. "Sal's like family to us, and we're really used to the way each other work," he says. "There's something cool about that, but it's also safe. You knew what he was going to say and he knew what we were going to say, so any argument would have a degree of inevitability as to how it would work out. With Dave, there have been a lot of new ideas we'd never had about how things should work."

The band is attempting to record as much of the album live as possible. "On the last record, Tucker [Rule] played a lot of the drums on a click track to himself," Rickly says. "Whoever else was around was ancillary -- they didn't need to be there. Now, everyone's there all at once, and everyone has ideas all the time. It's been really exciting."

This approach seems to be working, as Thursday has already tracked seven songs and completed vocals on two. Of those, Rickly says the song "We Will Overcome" is nearly finished.

"The chorus goes 'If you follow the path that's straight and narrow, walk hand in hand because our roads are paved with broken arrows, we will overcome,'" Rickly says. "It's about how much of America's history is based in violence, and it's also about the current war going on, and the situation the country's in. It's also based on folk music and Pete Seeger's 'We Shall Overcome.' It's about standing up and saying something and not to despair the state of our country, but to stick together with the people you love and have hope."

Rickly says the material recorded so far has changed significantly from the demos presented to Fridmann. "There are certain elements that are still there, but they were so long ago that some of the songs changed even before we got into the studio." Rickly says. "The other song we've come really far on is one that was on the demos, but it has a totally different chorus now."

http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001349814

The Cure planning new album for Summer 2006, reissues, live DVD

Billboard is reporting that long-running post-punk act the Cure will be entering the studio in January 2006 to record its next album and the followup to 2004's eponymous effort. Frontman Robert Smith briefly mentions on the band's website a tentative release in the summer of 2006, which is expected on Geffen. The as yet untitled effort will be the band's first since keyboardist Roger O'Donnell and guitarist Perry Bamonte left the band earlier this year, while former guitarist Porl Thompson has since rejoined.

Also planned is a series of reissues from the band, which will include 1984's The Top, 1985's The Head on the Door and 1987's Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me, as well as The Blue Sunshine, a 1983 album Smith and Siouxsie and the Banshees bassist Steve Severin created under the name the Glove. The sets are due out by next spring.

In addition, Smith is assembling a live DVD from the band's recent summer performances, with a release expectedly some time in 2006.

http://www.punknews.org/article.php?sid=14624

Updates from AFI's Davey Havok and Hunter

AFI vocalist Davey Havok posted an update as the band continues to work on their upcoming full length follow up to Sing the Sorrow:

I've been listeing to Modern Lif is War a bit in the gym lately. My ocsxe boyfriends turned me onto them. Now, I do believe I'd like to see them live as I'd imagine them to be very engergetic and because, well, we're all dead Ramones.[...] In other similar matters - within the past couple of days I've run into both Andrew from Strife and Scott from EarthCrisis. I guess Frank Vicario should be next. Perhaps it's a sign? Perhaps we should all pull out the magnums and the ashen grey hoodies? Perhaps.

I'm in the studio right now listening to Adam rock it. Hunter also posted a quick status update, saying:

Just so you know, we're still in the studio working on our record (yes, the SAME record) and each day it gets better and better and that much closer to being done. since it's not quite done yet, we don't have a release date... and since we don't have a release date, I can't tell you when we'll be coming to your town. All I can tell you is to stay posted and we'll let you know what's up. The band has about three weeks of studio time remaining and hopes to release the album as early as February 2006.

http://www.punknews.org/article.php?sid=14535


Once again deep thanks go to Jen from this Yahoo group:

Stratosphere