Free Album Success from Pennywise

"Who goes to buy a new pair of pants without trying them on, you know? If you're a band you should be so confident in your music you can say, 'Here, try it. If you like it, buy it." -Pennywise



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Recently Punk Rock champions Pennywise released their 104th album on Myspace Records...for free. Pennywise, who dissolved their contract with Epitaph Records because Epitaph wasn't excited to release another record, and signed with Myspace Records.



They decided to release their album, Reason to Believe, for free on their myspace page, for anyone and everyone to download. the result? 400,000 downloads, a top 50 single on the Billboard, and getting their message out to more and more people.



I've long supported to the idea of giving an album away for free in order to get more people to hear it, and now i'm in good company with Pennywise, Nine Inch Nails and Radiohead to name a few.



Here's the interview with Pennywise discussing the album downloads and stuff.

Show Recap: Comeback Kid @ Marquis 3/3/08

Oh man, i haven't been to a show in a couple of months, and it was worth the wait

Last night Isaac and I took in a great show at the Marquis Theatre in downtown Denver, Comeback Kid and Crime in Stereo. i'm hurting today.

First Band - Crooked Way: These guys were alright, they're from Denver and you could tell that they were a little raw. They were taking the place of Daggermouth who dropped off the tour about a week ago. Anyway, they were reminiscent of old Comeback Kid, Bane and Champion, good vocals, average guitar work/riffs, and pretty week drumming. They just didn't have any creativity and lacked energy.

Second Band - Steel Nation: Brutal. typical tough-guy east coast hardcore, and man this set was intense. Isaac and i feared for our lives when a fight broke out about halfway through the set between some tough-tattooed dudes. The music was heavy and thumping, and the vocals were very intense, but i wasn't able to identify any of the words. These kinds of bands are what turn people off to hardcore/punk music. They had a pretty good crowd response so apparently they've got a following, i'm just not tough-enough for them

Third Band - Crime in Stereo: I was impressed with CIS. Definitely the most laid-back band of the night, apparently CIS had some van trouble and arrived at the venue about an hour before performing. This band is more pop-punk than hardcore, but they have a pretty good following. they played well, the singer's voice was pretty tired and he failed to hit some notes which came across pretty bad but besides that they played most of the good songs like Sudan, I Stateside and others.

Last Band - Comeback Kid: This was the 3rd time i've seen CBK and it might have been the best. This was their first headlining tour in Denver and that made a huge difference. Andrew has totally improved as a frontman, and he was able to maintain energy throughout the entire set despite the altitude and sheer energy CBK requires. the set featured songs from all three albums and it was almost obvious that the new album hasn't quite hit it off with fans, they played Broadcasting, Defeated and Giv'r and those were the 3 weakest songs of the set. highlights woulds have to be All In A Year, False Idols Fall, Talk is Cheap and the closer Wake the Dead. I was planning on bringing a lot of people to this show since CBK is the shining example of great sing-along hardcore, but that didn't happen.

All in all it was a long wait for one great set. i should have stayed home to skip the first 2 bands but whatever. Keep your ear out for Comeback Kid, they've made some appearances on MTV2 and i'm sure they'll continue to gain momentum.

Friend's Playlists

Hey guys, i've asked a lot of you to give me a playlist of your favorite tracks right now. Not only do i love to see what everyone is listening to, but to find some new music for myself. so far i've gotten lists from Nuccio, Justin, Aaron, and myself, and as more come i'll keep posting them.

i have a section over on the right that links to each of the lists, so you can see them at FIQL.com . if you have a list to share, either post it in the comments section or email it to me, i'd really love to see it!

Thanks everyone, great music!

CAIB vol. 7

Okay, i finished my latest installment of Converting Atheists Into Believers, this is a good one. This one isn't as heavy as some before it, but none-the-less it's epic.

Remember to listen to it in order, i spend as much time selecting the songs as i do the order of them, and give each song a chance, there are some great breakdowns later in some tracks.

and listen to it loud, really loud, with some good low-end, some of the drumming is awesome and hardcore isn't meant to be listened to quietly.

Please give me some feedback on anything, favorite tracks, weak tracks, questions about the bands or whatever, i love feedback!!

Tracklist:

1 Intro-300
2 Along for the Ride-Down to Nothing
3 Symptoms of a Failing System-Our Last Night
4 All In A Year-Comeback Kid
5 Nothing Left-As I Lay Dying
6 the Minor Prophets-Haste the Day
7 You Always Said-With Honor
8 Drones-Rise Against
9 Patty Hearst Syndrome-Smoke or Fire
10 All Night Long-Lifetime
11 Secret Weapon-MxPx
12 Always There-Slickshoes
13 Suffer the Kids-Broadway Calls
14 Unwinding Cable Car-Anberlin
15 Edinboro-theAudition
16 Party Song-Emery
17 How to Rape a Country-A Change of Pace
18 State of Massachusetts-Dropkick Murphys
19 Not Without a Purpose-Streetdogs
20 Abandon Ship-the Gallows
21 We Don't Believe-Life In Your Way
22 Fists Up-Last of the Believers
23 Learning to be Brave-Means
24 The Siren's Song-Oh, Sleeper
25 Iscariot-Reign Supreme
26 Squall-Shipwreck A.D.
27 Screaming at the Moon-Modern Life is War

Download link

Finally!

Comeback Kid announced their headlining tour in support of Broadcasting. So they won't be playing freaking Red Rocks when they come to denver, instead they'll be at the Marquis Theatre with Crime in Stereo.

if you haven't seen these guys live, you're sheltered, this show will be BROOTAL

Seth Godin on the Music Industry

Seth Godin of Yahoo! fame has spoken out about the music industry. This post is a must read for anyone who has thoughts about downloading, copy protection and basically the entire industry as a whole.

"The opportunity of digital distribution is this:
When you can distribute something digitally, for free, it will spread (if it’s good). If it spreads, you can use it as a vehicle to allow people to come back to you and register, to sign up, to give you permission to interact and to keep them in the loop."

"A frightened consumer is not a happy consumer.I shouldn’t have to say this, but here goes: suing people is like going to war. If you’re going to go to war with tens of thousands of your customers every year, don’t be surprised if they start treating you like the enemy."

for new bands and starters:
" in an age when it’s cheaper than ever to design something, to make something, to bring something to market, the smart strategy is to have a dumb strategy. Keep your costs low and go with your instincts, even when everyone says you’re wrong. Do a great job, not a perfect one. Bring things to market, the right market, and let them find their audience."

entire article

Fans of old-school christian punk rawk

Slick Shoes is back together

Thats pretty crazy, these dudes must be like 40 yrs old. its the original lineup and everything. if you haven't heard of slickshoes, think MxPx - Life in General. These dudes were fast, poppy and solid, so it'll be good to hear the next album. their last album came out in 2003.

yea

Oh, and if you think my blog is just a rehash of punknews.org , you'd be happy to know that of teh 10 editors, and the reads picks for top 20 albums, that'd be 220 separate picks, my top 15 weren't matched with any of them. in fact, a few editors cited Crime in Stereo's - Is Dead as a top pick, and well, that album is terrible. just thought you'd know, go to punknews.org to see all of their picks.