Down will be playing some shows in May. Dates are in the replies. The band's latest effort, Down IV Part I, will be releaed on vinyl on February 26th via Down Records/ADA.

Stream Down's Down IV Part I - The Purple EP here.

Down will release Down IV Part I - The Purple EP on September 18th via Down Records/Independent Label Group. Listen to the first single, "Witchtripper," here.

Track Listing
1. Levitation
2. Witchtripper
3. Open Coffins
4. The Curse Is A Lie
5. This Work Is Timeless
6. Misfortune Teller

Check out an awesome acoustic version of A Thorn For Every Heart's "February" here.

The Fully Down is currently writing and working on their new album. The band currently has 22 songs and is going to begin demoing this week before they head to Japan.

LA Weekly recently sat down with The Aggrolites' guitarist Brian Dixon to discuss the band's nostalgic take on Jamaican reggae. You can find the interview republished in it's entirety below.

The Aggrolites Speak With LA Weekly

How do you listen to music? Are you a lyric person or a music person? Do you love subject matter or sound? The Aggrolites’ nostalgic take on Jamaican reggae demands that listeners erase such distinctions. For this band, sound is content. Soulful sandpaper vocals, lubricated grooves, primitive recordings — it’s an aural approximation of ska’s Platonic, early state of grace. Think of Otis Redding fronting the Meters.

Formed in 2002 by five veteran SoCal...

Donald Rumsfeld is stepping down.

One of our users brought this letter to my attention and I contacted the magazine about it a few weeks back. Alternative Press is NOT shutting down, and any letter you receive saying so is a fraud. Go here to see the letter and an explanation from AltPress on the matter.

The Deftones and Thrice are reportedly planning to tour Austrailia. More information will be released as we get it.

We apologize that several of our ABSOLUTExclusives are currently unavailable. Please bear with us as we attempt to fix the problem with the hosting server. Sorry for the inconvenience - exclusives will return shortly. Thank you!

Hand Me Down Buick will be going into the studio soon with Rob Freeman of Hidden In Plain View to finish recording their World Artist/Five 8 Teen records debut. Expect the cd to hit stores late October.

Chino Moreno of the Deftones lent his vocals for the new Dead Poetic track "Paralytic." The new album, Vices is set to drop October 31, 2006.

Check out Down The Road Webzine's exclusive Vans Warped Tour '06 coverage, including pictures and interviews with bands like UnderOath and Spitalfield.

Submitted by gabbyrocks

You can now download the demo vesion of Hand Me Down Buick's "It's Just Business" on their AP.net profile. The band, who recently signed with World Artist Records, will have their debut full length, The Greater The Risk, out on October 24th. Let the band know what you think!

Happy Birthday to our own Katie Schmitz! She's 21 ladies and gents, let the good times roll.

Nodes of Ranvier bassist Terry Taylor has stepped down from his position with the band. Here's his official statement:

Message

"Being in Nodes over the last couple years has been one of the most important things I have ever done with my life. I have been able to reach out and touch some of the most amazing people I have ever met. The kids that come to Nodes shows are some of the most beautiful people in the world. I feel very blessed that I was able to share the stage with all the fans and the 4 other members of Nodes. Touring had became harder and harder for me each tour. The stress of running a high maintenance business and the desire to have more stability at home had started to take...

Mxtabs.net has been closed, there is a statement on their website.

Submitted by PunkDrums182

MC Lars' "Download This Song" debuted at #38 on Australia's singles chart. The track is currently the #2 track on iTunes Hip Hop Chart and is the #17 overall download on iTunes Australia. iTunes sales do not factor into the Australian charts yet, if they had, he would have nailed the Top 20. It's anticipated the single will climb next week. Lars is currently in Australia and loving it. He was on their MTV's TRL last Friday, where his video is in heavy rotation. The clip is the most spun at Channel V with #1 requests. He performed the track on CD Live last week and was featured this week on Take 40. The track is being spun on all kinds of stations from Pop to Indie to Hip-Hop.

Hey all - I just posted my review for Downtown Singapore's excellent Matt Squire-produced full-length debut, Don't Let Your Guard Down. The record is out now on DCide Records - I highly recommend picking it up.

According to Billboard, Steve Greenberg will be stepping down as president of Columbia Records tomorrow, June 9th.

Hand Me Down Buick has all four songs recorded with John Naclerio (Senses Fail, Brand New, The Ataris) up for download on thier MySpace page. The band will be doing a small run in July with Farewell and Miles From Midnight (Members of Burning Bright).

Tour dates

06/23/06- The Elks Lodge - New Egypt, NJ
06/24/06 - The Noteworthy - Bedford, PA
06/26/06 - North Star High School - Summerset, PA
06/28/06 - Revelations Cafe - Seymour, IN
06/29/06 - Game Studio 360 - Clinton Twp, MI
06/30/06 - Mojoes Coffeeshop - Chicago, IL
07/01/06 - Canton Internet Cafe - Roseville, MI

With Farewell/ Miles From Midnight
07/04/06 - The Creepy Crawl - St. Louis, MO
07/05/06 - Nathan P Murphys -...

Down to Earth Approach's new album will be called Come Back to You; keep up with the band as they're recording their new album by visiting the studio journal on their web site. Don't forget to download their acoustic EP for free on their AP.net profile.

Down To Earth Approach has launched a new temporary website which includes a new video update. Check it out here.

The Fully Down recently wrapped up their video for "Descent, Rebellion, and All Around Hell Raising" which you can watch on their Myspace. You can now request the video to be played on MuchMusic by emailing your requests to muchloud@muchmusic.com

The Fully Down's new music video for "Descent, Rebellion, and All-Around Hellraising" can be seen here.

Don't forget, we've got Down to Earth Approach's new acoustic EP available for free on the band's AP.net profile page. If you'd like to add one of the songs to your MySpace profile, the band has also made the EP available on their MySpace page.

Down To Earth Approach will be on the entire Warped Tour this summer.

In case it wasn't made obvious (predictable) by the beautiful banner above, we're now streaming the first four tracks from Hit the Lights' new album, This Is a Stick Up... Don't Make It a Murder, on the band's AP.net profile.

The Smiths turned down 5 million dollars to reunite.

Boysetsfire, Versus The Mirror and The Fully Down will begin touring together at the end of April. The dates are below.

Tour Dates

04/26 Detroit, MI Alvin's
04/27 Covington, KY The Mad Hatter
04/28 Indianapolis, IN Emerson Theatre
04/29 Chicago, IL Beat Kitchen
04/30 Minneapolis, MN 7th Street Entry
05/01 Des Moines, IA House of Bricks
05/02 Kansas City, MO El Toreon w/Flee The Scene, Chasing Victory, Odd Project, Fight Paris
05/03 Denver, CO Marquis Theatre
05/04 Salt Lake City, UT Avalon Theatre
05/05 Boise, IDThe Venue w/ Kane Hodder
05/06 Seattle, WA El Corazon w/Kane Hodder
05/07 Portland, OR Rock N Roll Pizza w/Kane Hodder
05/08 Sacramento, CA The Boardwalk
05/09 San...

Lydia has lined up the following dates with Scary Kids Scaring Kids, Portugal. The Man, and The Classic Crime on their way down to SXSW:

Tour Dates

March 11th 2006 6:30 pm -Slammers. Omaha, Ne
March 12th 2006 6:30 pm - The Eagles Lodge. Wichita,Ks
March 13th 2006 6:30 pm - The Door. Dallas,Tx
March 14th 2006 6:30 pm - Jakes. Lubbock,Tx
March 16th 2006 11:00 pm - SXSW- Purevolume after-party w/ Head Automatica, Nightmare of You, We are the Fury, and The photo Atlas

So, anyone excited for our Hit the Lights "leak" coming up next week?

Down To Earth Approach and Lorene Drive will be doing a quick stint together in April. Those dates are below.

DTEA/Lorene Drive Dates

4/24/06 Roseville, CA @ The Underground
4/25/06 Bakersfield, CA @ The Dome
4/28/06 Amarillo, TX @ The Refuge
4/29/06 Wichita, KS @ Headway Skatepark
4/30/06 St. Louis, MO @ Creepy Crawl
5/02/06 Toledo, OH @ Headliners
5/03/06 Allentown, PA @ Crocodile Rock Cafe

New featured download: The Static Age's "Amphibian." Matt Squire (Northstar, The Receiving End of Sirens) produced the band's debut full length, Neon Nights Electric Lives - you know it's gotta be good.

Hot Rod Circuit's cover of Tom Petty's "I Won't Back Down" is up for downloading on their MySpace page.

Submitted by: Talib Scottie

Taking Back Sunday are headed down under to fight alligators and kangaroos. The action doesn't stop there, though, the band will also be playing some shows. Dates are below.

TBS Australian Tour Dates

03.11.06 - Perth AU, Capitol, (4-7pm)
03.12.06 - Adelaide AU, Fowler's Live
03.13.06 - Melbourne AU, The HiFi, (18+)
03.14.06 - Melbourne AU, The HiFi
03.15.06 - Sydney AU, Roundhouse
03.18.06 - Brisbane AU, Arena

Copeland is currently looking for a producer for their new album, which they plan on recording this summer and releasing later this year.

Tommy Rogers of Between The Buried and Me recently said in an interview that he will be doing another Giles album, but he doubts it will come out through Victory Records.

Portugal. The Man have announced a new show for this Saturday. Details below.

January 14th-Rush's-Bremerton, WA w/Patterns, Somebody Stop Melvin,A Long Way Home

The House Harkonnen has posted two new tracks ("Bullet" and "Black Out Your Heart") on their Myspace page. They are also getting ready for tour and you can see those dates below.

Feb 10 2006 8:00P The Red Blood Club Deep Ellum, TX
Feb 11 2006 9:00P The Palace Theatre Corsicana, TX
Feb 16 2006 9:00P TBA Fayetteville, AR
Feb 17 2006 10:30P Northgate Tavern Baton Rouge, LA
Feb 18 2006 9:00P The Handlebar Pensacola, FL
Feb 21 2006 10:00P The University of Alabama // MALLET Tuscaloosa, AL
Feb 22 2006 9:00P TBA Chapel Hill, NC
Feb 23 2006 8:00P Piano's New York City, NY
Feb 24 2006 9:00P TBA New York City, NY
Feb 25 2006 8:00P Flight Test Records Hickory, NC
Mar 1 2006 9:30P Ten...

Hand Me Down Buick just got out of the studio with producer John Naclerio (My Chemical Romance, Senses Fail, Brand New) and have posted two songs off their upcoming full length CD on their purevolume.

Zebrahead have recorded a song to be the theme music for WWE's Stacy Kiebler.

Submitted By: BombOutOfBibles

Jimmy Eat World will headline a date at The Metro in Sydney, Australia on December 16th. Tickets. The band is going to be over there to play with Green Day and My Chemical Romance in Melbourne on December 17th.

Submitted By: 3milesdown

Matchbook Romance will be going to Australia for the very first time. They'll be playing there December 8th through the 10th. If you're interested in attending, then head to their website for tickets.

All of my reviews have been transferred to the new system, including the most recent review of Relient K - Apathetic EP. Since this is indeed a slow time of year for new records, please leave suggestions of albums you'd like to see reviewed that are either new or perhaps had been overlooked by our staff in the past 12 months. Thanks!