Thrice tease fans with new clip

At the beginning of the year, Thrice confirmed that they were currently working on a brand new album; their ninth studio record. Since that social media confirmation back in early January, little has been revealed with the exception of pictures from the recording studio. On Tuesday (March 15), things changed when the band took to social media, once more, to release a 15-second clip. Like any fans who are eagerly awaiting their favorite band’s new record, speculations have already begun on whether this is one of the new tracks the band has been showcasing on Instagram.

Check out the short clip below.

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— Thrice (@Thrice) March 15, 2016

The newly released clip comes on the heels of the California band announcing a summer tour. The trek will find the five-piece visiting a slew of North American cities throughout the month of June. The tour, which will also feature La Dispute and Gates, will kick off on June 3 at the Shrine Expo Hall in Los Angeles and wrap up on June 25 at the Summit Music Hall in Denver. The complete list of upcoming summer tour dates can be seen here.

The still-untitled record will be the follow-up to the band’s 2011 release,  Major/Minor.

The Matches Advise Fans to “Standby”

Is there something brewing over at Camp The Matches? Well, after posting a cryptic clip on their social media accounts, it appears that there just might be.

The California band, who went on hiatus back in 2009, have been quiet since their one-night only show in 2014 to celebrate the tenth anniversary of their debut album, E. Von Dahl Killed the Locals. With this new video, talk of a reunion among fans has once again begun. The short clip, which comes in at 15 seconds, features an artist’s hands drawing out the word “Standby.” While the word is being drawn out, there’s audio in the background which keeps changing as if someone was turning the dials on an old school radio searching for some music. Watch the cryptic clip below.

#TheMatches pic.twitter.com/qG8JdkFSNZ

— The Matches (@thematchesband) September 7, 2015

While at the current moment there has been no confirmation (or denial) that there might be a reunion, or even a reissue of any of their material, it’s a good time to point out that the band’s sophomore album Decomposer will turn ten in 2016. The album which gave us tracks like “Papercut Skin,” “Little Maggots,” and “What Katie Said” will officially hit the decade mark next September. Until the band comes forward as to what we’re standing by for, we’ll be here, waiting for it.

The Matches last album before calling it a day was 2008’s A Band in Hope.

Bring Me the Horizon Drop Major Teaser for Fans

“What the heck is up with all the umbrellas?”

If you’re a fan of Bring Me the Horizon, this was probably your thought at some point in time during the past week and it doesn’t look like it will be going away any time soon.

Today, the band took to Facebook to post a short video which may or may not feature the first taste of new music from the British band.

While the video doesn’t feature vocals or even real instrumentals, it does sound like it’s the introduction to a track. What track exactly, we probably won’t find out until they decided to release the complete song.

Check out the teaser video below.

Last week, BMTH frontman Oli Sykes began posting some cryptic messages in which he advised fans that if they happen to stumble across a poster featuring an umbrella emoticon, to take a picture of it and hashtag the image with the actual umbrella emoticon.

The cryptic message of course resulted in fans automatically assuming that it was linked to some kind of promotion for some new music. Those fans might have been onto something.

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A post shared by Lee Malia (@leemalia) on Jun 28, 2015 at 2:00pm PDT

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The umbrella tag-a-thon comes a couple of months after the band revealed that their long-awaited Wembley Arena DVD had been postponed once again. According to Facebook, the DVD is “now available” though some fans are complaining that their pre-orders still haven’t arrived.

Austin Carlile Updates Fans on Hospitalization

It’s been several days since Of Mice & Men broke the news to fans that the final two stops of their “Full Circle Tour” had been cancelled due to frontman Austin Carlile being hospitalized for unknown reasons.

Now, four days later, Carlile has taken to Twitter to thank the fans for their dedication and well-wishes. He also updated his followers that he will be transferred to Stanford University sometime this week to get the “health situation at hand under control” and to be in the care of his cardiologist and a Marfan specialist.

One silver-lining in all of this; Carlile’s promise that he’s “never giving up.”

Check out the slew of tweets from the singer and a picture update from the hospital on Instagram below.

Thank you for the get well wishes everyone. I'm transferring to Stanford University this week to be in care of my cardiologists & marfans…

— Austin Carlile (@austincarlile) June 9, 2015

specialists until my health situation at hand is under control. It has been a long past few days, and the ones following will be just as

— Austin Carlile (@austincarlile) June 9, 2015

much of a struggle but I can do this. And I believe that whole heartedly.. If I believe in it. So should you. I'm sorry to anyone who missed

— Austin Carlile (@austincarlile) June 9, 2015

the last two shows of our tour. I would have much rather been there than a hospital bed, I assure you. Love to everyone, band, family, you.

— Austin Carlile (@austincarlile) June 9, 2015

I'm never giving up.

— Austin Carlile (@austincarlile) June 9, 2015

Thanks for being there for me. Waking up over & over in the middle of the night, or the nurses helping me pee, reading the tweets help. ❤

— Austin Carlile (@austincarlile) June 9, 2015

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Of Mice & Men were supposed to wrap up their “Full Circle Tour” earlier this week (June 9) at El Plaza Condesa in Mexico City. The tour was in support of the reissue of 2014’s Restoring Force, Restoring Force: Full Circle which came out earlier this year.

The 1975 Return to Social Media, Fans Stop Panicking

Fans of The 1975 who have been in panic mode over the past few days, there’s no need to worry anymore because the band, and their members’, social media accounts have been reactivated.

For those not familiar with what has been going on, it all started when frontman Matt Healy posted a cryptic comic strip online hinting at a “good-bye.” Even though the English band had been hinting at a new record for months, some started to get concerned that it was the end of the group.

Then, on Sunday (May 31), all their social media accounts disappeared and no one could figure out what led to it. Of course, the rumors began all over again that the band had disbanded without anyone knowing.

But today (June 2), all their social media accounts (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter) were back with one noticeable difference; the band’s logo had changed color.

The logo, which once was black and white, is now white and pastel pink.

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A post shared by The1975 (@the1975) on Jun 2, 2015 at 1:00am PDT

Looking back at the comic Healy posted, it appears the good-bye he was hinting at was for the band, but them saying good-bye to their old logo.

Crafty.

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— matty from the 1975 (@Truman_Black) May 31, 2015

As of now, there’s a still a major rumor running around Facebook that the band will be changing their name, but considering the logo still says “The 1975,” we’re sure that’s just a rumor.

For now, let’s give the guys of The 1975 some major kudos for stirring the publicity pot because they definitely did make an impression on a lot of people (and music news publications) with this stunt.

Instagram Launches Its Own Music Channel

While everyone is battling to see who has the best music streaming service around, Instagram has decided to go in another direction and launch their own music channel; @music.

“For the past four years, we have become the home for artists big and small — a place where people across the musical spectrum come to share stories, reveal their creativity, and connect directly with fans,” founder and CEO Kevin Systrom wrote on the company’s blog, this morning (April 29).

According to Billboard, out of the company’s 300 million+ users, a quarter of them (and their top accounts) are musicians or users who are part of the music industry in some aspect. This channel is a way to shed some light on these musicians, music photographers, album illustrators, instrument makers, and fans.

In the past, musicians have managed to use Instagram in several great ways that pushed the boundaries of the social media platform. Modest Mouse announced the release of their much-anticipated new album, Strangers to Ourselves; Tom DeLonge debuted some new songs; and last year, Georgia-based band Issues streamed their self-titled album in full.

The report also states the music channel will begin to post six items a week, from Tuesday to Sunday while also hosting 11 series which will span the “globe of music.” The first act to be featured on @music will be Questlove.

Since 70 percent of Instagram activity comes from international users, @music will equally focus on shining the light on foreign talent including J-Pop trio Tricot, the United Kingdom’s Until the Ribbon Breaks, and Korean group No Brain.

“One of our goals with this is to say ‘How can we help facilitate artists discovery?'” said Jonathan Hull, head of strategic partnerships/music for Facebook.

In addition to new aspects, Instagram will also be expanding their long-form blog which recently took an in-depth look at Madonna’s “colorful feed.”

CHVRCHES Frontwoman Responds to Sexual Assault Threat

While we are a music blog and like to post happy things like our favorite bands’ upcoming tour or new music, there is something in the music industry that seems to always be present even though many don’t like to talk about it; sexually explicit abuse towards women and misogynistic threats.

Back in 2013, CHVRCHES frontwoman, Lauren Mayberry wrote an op-ed piece for The Guardian where she proclaimed she would not “accept online misogyny,” something that she admits she expected since her band’s success came because of the internet.

Turns out, not everyone received the memo that threatening to rape a woman is not only not cool, but also offensive, disrespectful, and all-around disgusting.

Yesterday, the singer posted an image of one of the many threats of sexual assault that had been sent her way. Instead of “letting it slide,” she called out the troll on her Instagram.

“These people never learn that violence against women is unacceptable. But they also never learn that women will not be shamed and silenced and made to disappear,” she writes on her personal account.

She also fights back by telling those trolls that she isn’t “going anywhere” and to “bring it on, motherfucker. Let’s see who blinks first.”

Mayberry’s response to the trolls mirrored the sentiments in her op-ed piece.

“What I do not accept, however, is that it is all right for people to make comments ranging from ‘a bit sexist but generally harmless’ to openly sexually aggressive,” she wrote.

“Is the casual objectification of women so commonplace that we should all just suck it up, roll over and accept defeat? I hope not.”

And that she definitely did not.

Check out Mayberry’s Instagram post below. And if you would like to read her op-ed piece, click here. It’s a really good read.

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Alexisonfire’s Mystery Announcement Revealed

After giving fans the biggest surprise on Friday with a brand new Instagram account and a photo that was updated on every single social media account associated with them, Alexisonfire have finally revealed their “BIG NEWS”: they’ll be reuniting.

Now, before we get too ahead of ourselves and give everyone high hopes of a massive tour, the band posted an image on Twitter (and probably every other social media account of theirs) with a list of festival names which they will be performing at.

One of the stops includes Riot Fest Toronto. Coincidentally, or not, festival organizers had announced the Riot Fest dates the day prior to Alexisonfire’s big tease.

The other festivals on the list include: Heavy Montreal (Aug. 7-9), Reading and Leeds (Aug. 28-30), SONiC BOOM and X-Fest (Sept. 5-6) and of course Riot Fest (Sept. 19-20).

While most of the festival dates are for Canadian and British festivals fans of the band in the United States shouldn’t worry that much. On the image that they posted today, it had “USA- TBA.” This TBA must come as a relief to American AOF fans because their farewell tor completely neglected the US, but did go to places like Australia and Brazil.

Now the big question becomes, what United States festivals are going to be graced by the newly reunited Canadian band? Some are saying Riot Fest Denver and Chicago are likely candidates and we could see that happening. After all, AOF frontman Dallas Green did perform at all three of Riot Fests last year with City and Colour.

Give us your guess.

Bad Religion Guitarist Leaves Band

Longtime Bad Religion guitarist, Greg Heston has left the band. The news which came out of nowhere was revealed a few days ago. 

The guitarist took to Twitter to confirm that he has departed the band that he had been in for the past 29 years.

On the social media site, Heston wrote a simple confirmation which read: “As some people noticed I have left @badreligion. Thanks to everyone for the 29 plus years of support. Stay tuned here and Instagram for updates.”

Judging from the context of the message, it was apparent that people were beginning to wonder what happened to him and this was just a confirmation to something that fans might have already been suspicious about.

As of now, there has been no more information as to why, after such a longtime in the punk group, Heston had decided to leave, but like he said, keep an eye out on his social media accounts.