Hello..and welcome back to another week of Duane’s Pit Stop. A lot of readers have complimented the old Roller Derby pictures that I posted up a couple of weeks ago so this week I’m posting some vintage Wrestling Pictures from the old school wrestlers that I had grown up watching. And just what does this have to do with Punk, not a goddamn thing!

Actually, this is kind of dry week for Punk but I was able to get some cool information on Joe Strummer and the Drop Kick Murphy’s so I’m sure you readers will be pleased. I also wanted to take some time to answer a couple of questions that have been sent to me from you, the readers, one being from Johnny Axe from Ohio. And his question is, what’s a decent type of Punk Guitar? Well, in my honest opinion, a Fender Strat Deluxe is quite a versatile guitar with its two single coil pick ups and the Seymour Duncan Humbucker pick-up has some serious bite to it. Check out www.fender.com for more details. Erin Miller from Fullerton, Ca ask if we here at MusicTAP could review her band's latest Demo and give our thoughts. Well Erin, here at MusicTAP, Dw Dunphy has a monthly posting that caters to indie labels as well as unsigned bands. If you would like, you can send it to our offices. I will be e-mailing you the address. And with that away, let's do what we do best.

Scatter The Ashes Signs To Epitaph - Nashville locals Scatter the Ashes, compared to Joy Division and Refused, have finally been picked up by a label. Epitaph Records intends to release their long awaited debut in mid 2004, but "Target Demographic" is available for download until then. You can also find Scatter the Ashes on, oddly enough, Island Records' recent rarities collection alongside Thrice, Thursday and Fall Out Boy.

Let's All Hear It For Victory - Victory Records has released free Mp3's from upcoming releases from both Bayside and Premonition of War. Go to the Victory Records page to obtain them.

Another In-store Extravaganza! - The boys of Taking Back Sunday are going to be at Record Archive in Rochester, NY on Wednesday, November 19. At 4:00 the band will playing a few songs to be broadcast on The Zone radio show. Here's a little help so you New Yorkers don't get lost in the hustle and bustle of the big city:

Record Archive
1880 E. Ave
Rochester, NY 14609
(585) 244-1210

Vagrant Loves Those Darn Canadians - And they want you to love them too. I'm talking about the new e-card out for Moneen to give us all a taste of what their live show is really like. It showcases four live videos, a bit of audio, some pictures, upcoming tour dates, and a link that leads straight to Canada, er--, I mean their homepage. Go check it out here.

And Then There Were Four - Between The Buried And Me have lost guitarist Nick Fletcher for unspecified reasons. In the mean time, they will be playing as a four piece, but they have a replacement in mind.

Pretty Girls Make Stolen Vans - And we don't mean the shoes. Pretty Girls Make Graves were robbed Wednesday night in Seattle of their van and trailer. The thieves managed to get away with their green 15-passenger van and trailer as well as the following vintage amps: 1972 SVT Classic bass head, 1976 Park guitar head, 1976 Marshall JMP 100w superlead, 1974 Silverface Twin Reverb, Roland KC500 keyboard amp. If you see any of these in your local music store or pawn shop, contact the band at their website. The band does not plan to cancel any dates on their current tour, continuing in the US until December 15th when they play a few dates in England.

Entertainment Weekly Gone Wild - In the November 21, 2003 issue of "Entertainment Weekly", the staff over there is shedding some light on a spiffy little thing called "Screamo." It's a four-page spread that has a bit of coverage on Thursday, My Chemical Romance, The Used, Coheed and Cambria, and a few others. Go out and pick it up.

Stare At The Video - Hooray for terrible puns in news post titles! The boys of Thrice have announced the debut of their new video for the track "Stare At The Sun" off of July's The Artist In The Ambulance. This is the second video for the album, and it has been posted at the Thrice. next video page. Check it out 'till you understand or go blind.

Additionally, Thrice's acoustic performance taped last month in the Apple store in Santa Monica, CA is up for purchase at the iTunes store. That's not all that's Thrice this month, but you'll have to keep checking in with PunkHardcore.com to see what we mean...

Brand New Get Sic - Brand New have released the video for their new single "Sic Transit Gloria...Glory Fades", off their album Deja Entendu. To watch it courtesy of MTV.com just click here and while you're at it you can also watch two short features on the band that MTV is also hosting.

Recover In The Studio - Recover have finally begun working on their highly aniticipated new full length record. They are currently in Los Angeles with producer Don Gilmore and will most likely be there for the next few months. Stay tuned to the band's website as they will be posting song titles and a track listing as soon as they are decided.

Check out, "Simple", a new demo from Recover's upcoming full length album here: Faster - Slower

More info at www.killrecover.com.

Joe Strummer Leaves Final Mark On New York With New Video - Nearly a year after he died in his home in England, Joe Strummer left his mark on New York on Sunday at a video shoot for the second single from his posthumous LP, Streetcore. A mural in memory of the late Clash singer/guitarist remains on the wall outside the East Village bar Niagara, where the clip for "Redemption Song," by Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros, was shot.

The clip, directed by Josh Cheuse, centers on the making of the spray-painted memorial, and the video features cameos by Rancid and many of Strummer's New York-based friends, including actors Matt Dillon, Cinque Lee (Spike's brother) and Cara Seymour (Gangs of New York's Hell-Cat Maggie), filmmakers Jim Jarmusch and Sara Driver, and singer/songwriter Jesse Malin, who owns the bar and volunteered its wall.

The video opens with classic images of New York. The Empire State Building and Chrysler Building blend with shots of speeding taxis and siren-blaring firetrucks barreling down the avenues to capture the feeling of the Englishman's home away from home. A few guys approach the blank brick wall with cans of spray paint and the idea to pay homage to the punk pioneer. As they start painting, a mixed crowd develops to observe the work-in-progress still too unfinished to be identified.

Archived footage of Strummer's past — from the Clash's 1982 show at Shea Stadium to him mingling with a group of break-dancers years later — stems from a sketchbook one of the artists consults for reference. Never-before-seen performance footage of the Mescaleros at London's Brixton Academy will also be used.

As the details of the mural come into view, it's clear the image is of Strummer, classic-looking with a slicked back 1950s hairstyle and dark shades. Below a red, gold and green flag emblazoned with the Lion of Judah, a symbol of power and mercy in the Rastafarian religion, are the words "Joe Strummer 1952-2002." The clip ends with passersby stopping to light candles and leave tokens at the base of the mural.

Of the known actors, most of who are seen as members of the crowd, Lee, Driver, and actor Steve Buscemi appeared with Strummer in Jarmusch's 1989 film, Mystery Train.

The video for "Redemption Song" is expected to surface later this month. The song follows "Coma Girl" as the next single from Streetcore, Strummer's third album with the Mescaleros, which was released October 21.

Strummer died last December of a heart attack. He was 50.

Dropkick Murphys Announce Big 2004 St. Patrick's Day Plans - Here is the latest update from the band's official website: "Well it's all over , 5 months of touring came to an end last night at the Fleet Center and now we've got a few months off. We had so much fun on our many passes thru the states and Canada over these past few months and want to sincerely thank everyone who came out to see us.

All the shows were great but last night was a fantastic way to end the tour and probably one of the best nights of our lives; getting to play after a Bruins game (especially after a game as awesome as last nights game was). What an honor and once again we want to thank everyone that stuck around after the game to see us. We were shocked at how many people were still there to support us, it was a great feeling.

Also let us not forget to thank the entire Boston Bruins organization, the players, and especially two players Nick Boyton (who played an unbelievable game) and Brian Rolston (who scored the game winner in overtime) for joining us onstage to play guitars on "BOYS ON THE DOCKS" . They definitely proved that they play guitar better than I skate!

Tickets for our annual Boston St Paddy's shows are available now so we hope to see you there and look foward to lots of exciting things in the coming year especially the release of our DVD "ON THE ROAD with the DROPKICK MURPHYS"

Until then have a great Thanksgiving and we'll talk to you soon!

Thanks, Ken and DKM"

For more information, pictures, video and more check out www.dropkickmurphys.com

Moneen To Open Vagrant Tour December 5-10! - Vagrant Records has announced that Moneen will be taking over the opening spot on the Vagrant Tour from December 5th - December 10th. No Motiv will be leaving the tour to prepare for their new video. Tour dates can be found here at www.vagranttour.net.

Canada Gets Thousand Foot Krutch - Trevor of Thousand Foot Krutch ( Tooth and Nail ) will be appearing on the TSN network on the program Off the Record with Michael Landsberg this Thursday, November 20th. If you live in Canada, be sure to look at your local listings for times. On the same day, the band will be featured on Much Music at 1:30 PM. Don't miss it. More info @ www.toothandnail.com.

Atmosphere - The “Seven’s Travels” tour keeps trucking across the country and I’d say that things are going really well for Atmosphere right now. Their song “Trying To Find A Balance” is being heard all over the place and the video is being seen in just as many places…man the internet is cool. Look, if you haven’t heard or seen these guys yet, hit the link and check out some seriously raw music.

Bouncing Souls Video Shoot - The Bouncing Souls recently concluded a huge North American tour and upon returning, jumped right into video shoot for the song “Sing Along Forever.” Now they have posted a big journal entry about the tour and the video shoot on their website, so hit the link and check it out.

Dropkick Murphys - These guys rocked the Boston Bruins hockey game this past Saturday, and announced some big news about this year’s St. Patrick’s Day events. The band has all of the details posted on their website, along with some classic pictures from the Bruins game, so hit the link and check them both out.

New Epitaph Signings - Epitaph is extremely stoked to announce that we have signed From First To Last and Scatter The Ashes. Both of these bands are tremendously talented and we are proud as new parents to have them on the label.

We have MP3s up for both of these bands for you to download, so hit the links below and check them out…Now.

From First To Last

Scatter The Ashes

The Agony Scene On Tour - Thanks to everyone who made it out to the New Jersey Metal Fest and the dates with Avenged Sevenfold. The band is taking a week off and then goes out again with Mushroomhead and the guys in Avenged Sevenfold which will be followed up by a west coast run with the band Integrity. Don’t miss out if the band comes to your area. Incredible.

Copeland Tour Feature - Copeland is featured with The Early November Tour on the Tower Records Website.

Tower is also having a special contest where if you buy a CD either on The Militia Group, Victory Records, or Drive Thru Records from www.Tower.com , you will be automatically entered to win a "bunch of really really awesome prizes." Make sure to check out the show when it comes your way. Dates and more at www.themilitiagroup.com

Kinison Tour W/ Stretch Armstrong, Aka's - After wrapping up their dates on the Blink 182 "Dolla Bill Tour" and playing at the House of Blues in Anaheim with Andrew WK, The Kinison will be heading out on tour with Stretch Armstrong, The Bled and The AKA's. Select dates below.

11.24.03 - Anaheim, CA @ House of Blues w/ Andrew WK
11.29 - 12.14 w/ Stretch Armstrong, The Bled and The AKA's
11.29.03 - Chicago, IL @ Fireside Bowl
11.30.03 - Minneapolis, MN @ Triple Rock
12.01.03 - Omaha, NE @ Ranch Bowl
12.03.03 - Denver, CO @ Cervantes
12.06.03 - Yakima, WA @ Roxity
12.07.03 - Seattle, WA @ Graceland

Moneen Ecard - One aspect of Moneen that stands out the most is their amazing live show. To document the live show we have created a limited pressing promotional DVD featuring live performances, two audio tracks, their new video for "Are We Really Happy..." and more. You can check out DVD dvd player for yourself here:

Vagrant - says there will be also some exciting Moneen tour news in the coming weeks and months. www.vagrant.com.

Travoltas Lineup Change - Guitarist Vince of the Travoltas is leaving the band. Below is a statement or part thereof from their website www.travoltas.com

... I have decided to leave the TRAVOLTAS . I've been with the band for 13 years and had some really great times all over the world with the guys. As some of you might now I'm also doing a lot of stuff musically besides the band and always have.

As a matter of fact my first 12" electro EP's as RA-X even got released just before the TRAVOLTAS released the "KILL, KILL, KILL..." cd. I've also done cd's as SPEEDBOAT FC, produced a lot of stuff for rappers like TAREEF, TBC CREW and CILVARINGZ and have recently done THE HOUSE OF DESTRUCTO with a bunch of friends and played some punkrock shows with THE UNCONTROLLABLE and THE SPADES to help them both out.

The genre of punkpop has a certain appeal to me, but it was never really enough to satisfy the hunger of doing all the other stuff I like. What I really want to do is combine styles, do different things, mix Bollywood with punkrock, garagerock with robot voices and hiphop with dub. I want to go all out but I realise I can't direct my energy in 5 different musical directions. Right now I just don't feel happy playing punkpop anymore, and I don't want to continue on when I'm not 'feeling' the music anymore, I would consider that unfair to the band and all those who hold it dear. So the most logical choice is that I'll be leaving the band.

My successor Mick is a nice guy and a great guitarplayer. I'm sure you all will accept him as one of the band in no time at all. We'll probably bump into each other at TRAVOLTAS shows or you'll find me hanging out with the band at shows or on tour. I've heard the demo's for the new upcoming TRAVOLTAS album and it's really good. I'm sure you will really like it, I know I do.

Vince

For more, check out www.travoltas.com.

Underoath Linup Change, New Album - Underoath offically announced that Spencer (formerly of This Runs Through) will be taking over as the new front man of the band, but the new taking the rest of the year off to finish writing the rest of the new album (name T.B.A.). They will be heading into the studio with James Paul Wisner for the month of February to record.

After 9 straight months of touring, they are playing their last 2 shows before beginning work on the new album - the 21st of November @ the Old Santos Print Shop in Gadsden, AL and the 12th of December in their hometown of St. Pete. @ The State Theatre. Hometown fans have one last chance to see them before spring/summer of 2004 more at www.underoath777.com

Well that’s going to do it for another week here at Duane’s Pit Stop and once again if you want to talk crap to me or just want to shoot the sh*t with me you can always e-mail me at dkleyva@musictap.net And I do wish you all the best weekend. Peace.