All great bands will have a tribute album. All the others just probably aren’t as good at this one.

In honor of Bad Religion’s 30th year, Germs of Perfection: A Tribute to Bad Religion has been complied for your enjoyment. I remember the list of artists who were in the mix for this project when it was coming together this past summer and I can say that I’m very impressed by the final cut.

Did I mention that this is a totally free album? Download it now! Right now! For you skeptics, this is a tested, trusted download link so lap it up.

Check out the tracklist below:

01. Switchfoot – Sorrow
02. Guttermouth – Pity
03. Cheap Girls – Kerosene
04. The Weakerthans – Sanity
05. William Elliott Whitmore – Don’t Pray on Me
06. Ted Leo and the Pharmacists – Against the Grain
07. Riverboat Gamblers – Heaven Is Falling
08. New Politics – Generator
09. Cobra Skulls ft. Fat Mike – Give You Nothing
10. Frank Turner – My Poor Friend Me
11. Polar Bear Club – Better Off Dead
12. Tegan and Sara – Suffer

Get some!

Like the headline says, our buddy Matt Costa is offering up free track “The Season” from his new album Mobile Chateau on Matt Costa dot com. The new album, due out on 9/21/10 on Brushfire Records, will accompany a big, long tour that will most certainly come to a city near you. The dates are up & some are already for sale.

                        

Here’s a snippet of what you can expect from Mobile Chateau via OC Weekly, “Costa promises a “distinct departure” from his previous work in Mobile Chateau, leaning towards what the press release calls “‘60s psychedelic superheroes,” before name-checking Donovan, 13th Floor Elevators, the Zombies and the Electric Prunes.” Congrats, Matt!

The Pixies just announced they will be heading back out for an extended run of the 2009 Doolittle reunion tour. Last year, the band toured nation-wide in celebration of the album’s 20th anniversary- and it seems like fans have asked for more.

The tour will hit 11 cities throughout September and will offer something the previous tour did not. At the end of each performance, you can get a CD copy of the show at the merch booth. I’d like to see the CD burner they have to tour with that can pop them out that quickly. It must be crazy! I digress…

The show will still feature all of the songs from Doolittle as well as the B-sides associated with the album. As of now, there is no information when tickets will be available.

And let’s say you want to know what the band sounds like now after all these years? Then download a free copy of band’s live EP.

September 7
Tower TheatrePhiladelphia, PA September 10
Ryman AuditoriumNashville, TN September 13
Fox TheatreAtlanta, GA September 17
Uptown TheatreKansas City, MO September 18
Brady TheatreTulsa, OK September 19
Verizon TheatreDallas, TX September 20
Verizon Wireless Theatre
Houston, TX September 22
Austin Music HallAustin, TX September 24
Mesa AmphitheatreMesa, AZ September 25
The JointLas Vegas, NV September 26
RIMAC ArenaSan Diego, CA

So much is happening for the band on their 30th year anniversary. We’re talking full tours, a live album and now they are working on the next. Do these guys take a break!?

Epitaph Records founder, and Bad Religion member, Brett Gurewitz comments:

While we’re celebrating our 30th anniversary as a band this year it’s also a time when Greg and I have embarked on new creative pursuits which have informed our songwriting process. I’m a new parent again and Greg a new author having just completed his first book Anarchy Evolution. So the songs are a distillation of where we’ve been and who we are now…a natural evolution of creativity. Being a new parent has colored my whole world. As a result I’ve written songs that at least for me, are somewhat less angsty and more introspective and vulnerable. The experience has emboldened me to take some creative risks as a songwriter that I’ve not allowed myself to take before.

Greg also commented on working on the new album:

We wouldn’t embark on this new creative endeavor, Brett wouldn’t have embarked on parenthood, I wouldn’t have embarked on writing a book, if we hadn’t reached a place in our lives where we felt the confidence that we had something to offer and that’s what these songs represent. They represent a new found confidence that things are starting to make sense to us.

If you want the entire free live album, you can still get it for free by signing up for their mailing list…for free. Get it! Get it!!!

As you may know from my previous posts, Bad Religion is celebrating their 30th year as a band in 2010. Crazy, right? And because we love them so much, and vice versa (we hope), we are bringing you an exclusive, free download!

The track is a live version of Suffer from the band’s 1988 album. We will have it available for you to download for a limited time from Vans.com/BadReligion. Just so you know, this is the only place to get this track!

If you aren’t happy with one song, then I have even better news for you. Starting May 18th you can download the FULL live album…also for free! You must sign up at BadReligion.com to get the download when it’s available.

Awesome.

You can download the track “Explode,” yes for free, from Trash Talk’s newest album Eyes and Nines directly from their website. The full album will be released digitally on May 18th and you can find it on shelves starting June 8th. Since I know everyone reading this right now is going to buy this album (if you aren’t, I may have to track you down), you might as well get a jump kick and grab this song!

The band’s sophomore album will feature guest appearances from Bad Religion’s Greg Heston as well as Matt Caughthrah of The Bronx.

To round out the release, the band will be heading out on the road in late April with Alexisonfire, Therefore I Am and La Dispute:

April 21st Cleveland, OH - Peabody’s Down Under
April 22nd Detroit, MI - St. Andrew’s Hall
April 23rd Buffalo, NY - The Town Ballroom
April 24th Baltimore, MD - Ottobar
April 25th Richmond, VA - Canal Club (Downstairs Lounge)
April 27th West Palm Beach, FL - Ground Control
April 28th Orlando, FL - The Social
April 29th St. Petersburg, FL - State Theatre
April 30th Atlanta, GA - The Masquerade
May 01st Greensboro, NC - Greene Street Club
May 03rd Houston, TX - Warehouse Live
May 04th Dallas, TX - The Door
May 05th Austin, TX - Emo’s
May 07th Mesa, AZ - The Nile
May 08th Anaheim, CA - Chain Reaction
May 09th West Hollywood, CA - Troubadour
May 10th San Francisco, CA - Slim’s
May 12th Portland, OR - Peter’s Room
May 13th Seattle, WA - El Corazon
May 14th Boise, ID - The Venue
May 15th Salt Lake City, UT - In The Venue’s Club Sound
May 16th Denver, CO - Marquis Theater
May 18th Minneapolis, MN - Triple Rock
May 19th Chicago, IL - Lincoln Hall
May 21st New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom
May 22nd Philadelphia, PA - Theatre of Living Arts
May 23rd Worcester, MA - The Palladium

Good. Because everyone needs more Vans.

               
This is the 100th post of the Vans Music Blog! Hooray! So I want to celebrate by giving you the chance to win a $50 VANS GIFT CARD! This contest is only open to US residents and this gift card can only be used on a Vans Off The Wall store. This means you cannot use it online or at a store like Journeys or Zumiez.

Now to the contest!

You know Vans rocks some pretty sweet band collabs. We have Iron Maiden, Slayer, Ramones, Rise Against, Kiss- you know them well! Now I want to know who YOU want to see on a Vans collab. Maybe some Every Time I Die or Gallows New Eras? How about Micheal Jackson Sk8 Hi shoes? Can you imagine red leather ones!? You could even want some Hannah Montana or Lady GaGa slip-ons. It can be anything your little heart desires. The only limit is your creativity on this one.

How to enter:
Just leave a comment of the band, shoe style and what you’d want it to look like! Do you want album art? Do you want the band’s logo? Perhaps jewel encrusted soles? Feathers? Speak up! All you have to do is tell me your dream band’s shoe and you are entered to win. Make sure to include some sort of contact information (like your Twitter name or e-mail) so we can contact you if you are the winner!

A winner will be picked randomly from applicable entries. Contest ends on Sunday, April 4th at 12pm PST.

    

So….what’s it gonna be?

Check out who we caught up with when we did our massive gifting at SXSW:

Ninjasonik, Tumbledown, Hey Monday, The Cab, Zlam Dunk, Riverboat Gamblers, Rise Against, The Death Set, Shawn Fisher, Hill Valley, Conditions, Title Fight, Every Avenue and of course, Oliver Peck.

If you’ve been following along via Twitter, then you are well aware that we’ve been giving stuff away to bands all day long. For those who don’t know, check it.

The Alternative Press showcase was today at SXSW and we sponsor our own stage as part of Emo’s. As a massive thank you, all of the bands playing the showcase had the chance to pick up some free Vans gear.

I wanted to give you a glance at what the place looked like before you get to see the epic video that will soon follow.

Of all this stuff, what do you think you’d want!?

         

Brant Bjork, of both Kyuss and Fu Manchu, is releasing a new recorded titled “Gods and Goddesses” on March 30.

But! Thanks to some team work, we have the full album available to stream over at http://vans.com/brantnjork. You can also download a totally free track from the CD!

Vans.com is the only place to pick it up, too so spread the word!

I’m about to bring it up again because we have yet another rad track featuring some of our buddies mixed by DJ Teenwolf of Ninjasonik.

I seriously can’t remember the last time I wanted to get up and shake my stuff this much. If you are having a party or get together, all you need to do is let this baby play. I’m serious.

The song is called SEX DRUGZ N ALCOHOL and is a sweet danceable mix of:

Soundwavve feat. Ninjasonik - Sex Drugz And Alcohol
Buraka Som Sistema - IC19 (Toadally Krossed Out Remix)
Kidstreet - Penny Candy
The Death Set - Distressed (Bonde Do Role Remix)
DJ Teenwolf feat Zelda - Wassshup (demo)
Hasil Adkins - Chicken Walk (Dirty Finger Remix)
Scott Melker - Give It Up/Push The Feeling Blend
Roxy Cottontail - Double Dare (Woo Hoo Remix)
Michael Jackson - Workin Day & Night (Funktomas Regroove)
What? Cheer Brigade - Saiyan Re Saiyan
Ninjasonik - Bastardmore (Shimmy Shimmy Ya Remix)
The Death Set - Around The World (Karn Remix)
DJ Webstar - Dancing On Me (Morsy Remix)
James Nasty feat. Ninjasonik - I Wanna Fuck
Ninjasonik - Somebody Gonna Get Pregnant (Gumar’s Italo Magic Mix)
Hydroponic Sound System - Saturday Night Dread
Ludacris - Splash Waterfall
Armand Van Helden - I Want Your Soul
Mr. Andersonic - Doin Coke, Gettin High
Mikix The Cat - Freeze (Kanji Kinetic Remix)
Fully Fitted - It’s A New Day
Neil Young - Rockin In The Free World/Planet Rock (Teenwolf Blend)
Sanitgold vs Ninjasonik - L.E.S. Tight Pants
Rye Rye vs. Ninjasonik - Hardcore Art School Girls

The track is available to download for free! And as always, from a secure download site- we promise.

And in the instance you sadly missed my lame-o MPFree’s joke from my previous post about getting some free tunes, I suggest you get on that.

Aw Ninjasonik, you are up to it again!

Our buddies have so gracefully given us an entire CD’s worth of remixes and other tracks. The mix-tape…err…mix-CD is called STRICTLY FOR MY HIPSTAZ and features tracks from our generous Brooklyn duo, remixes of their songs, their remixes of other songs and tunes from some rad artists. Grab the album here for free (we promise it is a safe download link) and don’t forget to share it with your friends…because it’ll be totally legal! They are like MPfree’s!

Ok…that was a bad joke. But here’s the tracklist:

Duck Sauce - aNYway (Ninjasonik’s Boosted Hot Sauce Mix)
Udachi & Jubilee - Paypur (Ninjasonik Remix)
Major Lazer VS Ninjasonik - Pon De Floor vs Somebody Gonna Get Pregnant
Major Lazer - Pon De Floor (Ninjasonik Remix feat. Tasleems and MNDR)
Johnny Nelson & Ease Da Man - Watch Yo Girl
Theophilus London - Humdrum Town
Ninjasonik - She’s My Pharmacist
Q Lazarus - Goodbye Horses
Abstract Truth - (We Had) A Thing (Matty’s Body & Soul Remix)
Kenna - Say Goodbye To Love (Ninjasonik Remix)
Treasure Fingers - Cross The Dancefloor (Ninjasonik Remix)
AC Slater feat Ninjasonik - Take You
Ninjasonik & Kicks Like A Mule - It’s Ok (Extended Mix)
Mr. Starcity - Welcome To Starcity
Ninjasonik feat Ease Da Man - NOFUNFORUGLYGIRLS
Memberz Only - Fuck Outta Here
Johnny Nelson feat Ninjasonik - Put Em In A Bodybag

Aquabats, we love you. And we think you love us, too. Know why?

Because you are throwing free music our way! The Aquabats have 2 free Christmas tracks available for download straight from their website. And now, here. To get them, just right click and “save link as” for the freebie MP3s.

The first is a cover of the 1980’s Lyndsey Buckingham jam HOLIDAY ROAD. To jar your memory, this is the theme song of National Lampoon’s Family Vacation…yes, that toe-tapper! The second track, produced by Warren Fitzgerald of the Vandals, is SANTA CLAUS’S PARTY. Who doesn’t want a little ska on this Christmas Eve?!

And lastly, because the guys are so considerate, they are wishing everyone their respective holidays wishes:

Please accept with no obligation, implied or explicit, our best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low-stress, non-addictive, gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasion and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all.

We also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2010, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great.

Not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country nor the only America in the Western Hemisphere. Also, this wish is made without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the wishes.

You guys make me happy…and laugh lots. And for the readers who for some reason are hesitating to download music we are throwing at you, feel free to preview it below!