ROCK NEWS REPORT 23 APR 18

GREEN DAY'S BILLIE JOE ARMSTRONG SHARES ENTIRE DEBUT LP FROM NEW SIDE BAND

Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong’s new band The Longshot have surprise-released their debut album, Love Is For Losers, along with a music video for the title track. Armstrong began teasing the new act earlier this month by sharing a series of Instagram posts with his 1.8 million followers. The posts pointed to the act's private Instagram page, which stated that its debut album was “coming eventually sooner or later. Probably sooner.”

After sharing three songs on April 13th and then hitting the stage with the band that same weekend, now Armstrong has revealed the entire 11-song album.

  • Armstrong has played with several side projects over the years, including Pinhead Gunpowder, Foxboro Hot Tubs and The Network. The latter two essentially consisted of all the members of Green Day plus additional musicians.
  • Armstrong also recorded a collaborative album with Norah Jones in 2013 called Foreverly.
  • The Longshot features Green Day touring guitarist Jeff Matika on bass and vocals, alongside Foxboro Hot Tubs contributor Kevin Preston on guitar and David S. Field on drums.
  • Green Day has been on a break since completing the tour cycle for its 2016 album Revolution Radio. The band has reportedly been working on the film version of its 2004 punk opera American Idiot, which is being produced by HBO.

Story source: NME

CHECK IT OUT: Watch the video for "Love Is For Losers":



METALLICA'S LARS ULRICH INTERVIEWS MAYNARD JAMES KEENAN

Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich interviewed Tool, A Perfect Circle and Puscifer frontman Maynard James Keenan for the latest episode of "It's Electric!", Ulrich's online radio show on Apple Music's Beats One. Talking about the long time it has taken A Perfect Circle and Tool to make their new albums, Keenan said, "There's a lot of timing issues with Tool getting to the studio, I always try to gauge where they're at, how things are going, and if I see a window where, 'Okay, doesn't seem like things are going to get done any time soon…' The window might expand based on me going 'I'm gonna go do something then.' That's why you had a lot of Puscifer for many years."

  • Keenan and Ulrich are both 54 and Keenan spoke about aging gracefully as a rock musician, saying, "At our age now, you see a lot of artists coming out of the woodwork trying to clearly desperately try to remain relevant . . . Just be relevant in what you’re doing, and be okay with not being part of the future. If you can get your head around that, that you’re not going to be a part of the next generations’s focus, for egomaniacs like us, that’s hard."
  • A Perfect Circle's first new album in 14 years, Eat The Elephant, came out on Friday (April 20th). Tool's first LP since 2006 is tentatively due out later this year.
  • The first part of the "It's Electric!" episode featuring Keenan aired on Sunday (April 22nd). The second half will air next Sunday (April 29th).
  • Launched in May 2017, "It's Electric" allows Ulrich to play music he's excited about, as well as interview guests like Iggy Pop, Noel Gallagher, Royal Blood, Jack White and more.

Story source: Blabbermouth

CHECK IT OUT: Watch the first part of the discussion between Lars Ulrich and Maynard James Keenan:



KILLERS TO RELEASE CAREER-SPANNING VINYL BOX SET

The Killers are releasing all seven of their albums in one complete box set for the first time, titled The Killers Career Vinyl Box. Out on June 15th, the career-spanning package will include all five of the band's studio albums -- 2004's Hot Fuss, 2006's Sam's Town, 2008's Day & Age, 2012's Battle Born and 2017's Wonderful Wonderful -- plus the 2007 rarities and B-sides record Sawdust, and the first vinyl pressing of the 2009 double album Live From the Royal Albert Hall.

  • All the records will be pressed on 180-gram vinyl in two editions: a standard black vinyl set and a limited edition clear vinyl version.
  • Drummer Ronnie Vanucci told us a while back that the Killers have always put writing great, lasting music above everything else: ["We as a band first want to last and, you know, want to be regarded as an important band, a classic band, things like that. And so that's resting on our shoulders. And other people place pressures elsewhere that really don't concern us as much as being a good band and writing good songs and having integrity."] SOUNDCUE (:18 OC: . . . and having integrity.)
  • The Las Vegas-based quartet is currently still on tour behind its most recent release, 2017's Wonderful Wonderful, with the group playing shows at the moment in New Zealand and Australia.
  • They'll be back home next month to kick off a short run of festivals in May and June, starting on May 18th at the Hangout Festival in Gulf Shores, Alabama.

Story source: press release

SIDE NOTES: Killers frontman Brandon Flowers was at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony last week, inducting the Cars and performing Tom Petty's "American Girl" in honor of the late singer. 

CHECK IT OUT: Here are the contents of the vinyl box set:


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