regarding new Against Me!.

2010 was the year I broke up with Against Me!. 2011 is the year we get back together so we don't die alone in 2012.

ALSO, I love when some random guy screams "Get off the stage!" during "Black Me Out." The chorus is weird but the hook is undeniable.

Joan Rivers is punk?

For your consideration:


I love when Joan says to Bob Mould, "You used to be radical, right?"

MORE FREE MOUNTAIN GOATS SONGS.

Shit son. John Darnielle gave away another free song via Twitter. Click here to check out "Tyler Lambert's Grave." Dude is single handedly justifying Twitter's existence.

Don't forget to check out "You Were Cool," the song Darnielle gave last month. Bless him.

regarding six by seven.

Six by Seven is an ambient drone band from the U.K. with some indie rock touches, which means that as ethereal and noisy as they get, there's a pop sensibility that brings them back to earth. My favorite album of theirs is 04, which the group just so happens to be giving away for free right now. Click here to check it out.

REGARDING NEW MOUNTAIN GOATS

As is his way, John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats wrote another awesome song the other day. And as is his way, he's acting like it isn't even that big of a deal, opting to post a YouTube video via his Twitter and declaring that the song won't even get a proper release on the next TMG album. He also uses his Twitter to talk about comic books, metal, and Time Tunnel. I don't want to sound like one of those people who obsesses over his/her idols and thinks, "We could totally be friends forever even though I only know about you through stories and forced perceptions told by the media," but I so thoroughly want to be friends with this man. Hell, I'd settle for living in his neighborhood and maybe, maybe chatting him up at the grocery store for about 30 seconds every two months. That's not crazy, right?

Anyway, here's an mp3 of that song above.

On a semi-related note, Nate Adams is the underground John Darnielle. SHHHHH.

[EDIT: Someone complained about the link having a virus, so I took it down. E-mail me if you want the mp3 for now.]

regarding How to Destroy Angels.

Underneath all that anger and bile, Nine Inch Nails maestro Trent Reznor really is a giving guy. He released his last album, The Slip, for free, and he's going that route again with the eponymous debut EP from How to Destroy Angels, his new band with new wife Mariqueen Maandig. Look for a review later, or just download the dang thing yourself:

Physical copies are expected to drop in the future, with a CD version slated for a July 6 release and vinyl TBD. Oh, and check out the group's video for "The Space in Between" below:

Freebies: new Ancestor EP.

So it seems like all my friends are giving away their tunes these days. My buds in the hardcore/metal outfit Ancestor recorded, mixed, and released a new EP, Allude to Illusion, yesterday. The title appeals to the Against Me! fan in me, as do the four tunes so technical that you want to call the guys liars for saying they only took a day to record. Check out MySpace for info on the band. Or just go straight to this link to download the chompie fo' free. They're not even going to bother asking for a donation, that's how deep their anti-capitalistic feelings go.