Anberlin: New Surrender
The album’s being distributed through USB bracelets that feature the album, 4 bonus tracks and additional bells and whistles. On New Surrender, the band’s major-label debut, the guys make their case for the big leagues by polishing their sound and stepping it up a notch. This latest is said to rock with the force of Blueprints, with shades of Never Take Friendship Personal. They take to radio-friendliness pretty well, by the sound of things.

Al Jourgensen, Sin Quirin, and Tommy Victor of Ministry were all in Hollywood last thursday for a signing with the crew from the Zach Passero horror movie Wicked Lake. Johnny scored us an in-person interview, and we hired the Enjoy Human video production team to tag along and shoot it.

Al was somewhat hammered, so all we really had to do was hit record and try and follow the Alien as he whipped his dick out in Virgin Megastore, ranted about being drunk dialed by Neil Young, engaging in sodomy with Jim Morrisson’s ghost, and kung fu-ing George Bush. Maybe that sounds wild, but he wasn’t nearly as unhinged as most of the maniacs that roam the treacherous streets of Hollywood at night, and not once did he try and sell us a star map. So in context, it was a rather pleasant evening.

Chris Cornell is scaring the shit out of his fans. And by ‘fans’ I don’t mean the middle-aged American Idol moms who never quite got on board the rock train in high school but squeal with delight that a legitimate “rocker” has shifted his sonic compass to more mainstream, generic balladry. I mean fans like me, who have stuck around through the highs and lows of Soundgarden and even Audioslave, faithfully confident in the darker hours that Cornell would find his way out of the mess and rise up with better material the next time.

Here’s the latest leak, a “hidden track” off Scream called Two Drink Minimum. It’s far and away the best of what’s leaked so far, but that really isn’t saying much.

I missed the memo that classic rock was fashionable again, but somehow it’s now okay for Kid Rock to reignite Sweet Home Alabama. Even weirder is that it’s completely fine by me. The Kings Of Leon are writing a new Southern rock chapter, and they’re fully equipped for the task.

Only By The Night is not the raucous rock affair it was purported and advertised to be. But it’s a damn good album, and a progressive leap forward both melody and atmospherically.

I haven’t liked anything Oasis has done since Be Here Now; the album most trashed by both the band and its critics. I suppose it’s Oasis’ Pinkerton: The great album everyone hates, after which everything sucked.

Every once in awhile, I check back in with Oasis, just to see if I’m missing anything. And that’s why I picked up Dig Out Your Soul. Before hearing a note of any single, I had been made aware of its grade by one of my favorite assholes, Noel Gallagher, who stuck a dirty middle finger up at the Radiohead / Trent Reznor game: “That’s not our bag,” He told BBC 6 Music. “I didn’t spend a year in the most expensive studio in England, with the most expensive producer in America, and the most expensive graphic designer in London to then give it away. Fuck that.”