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mewithoutYou’s ‘Pale Horses’ Turns 10

mewithoutYou
Jason Tate

Stereogum with a nice write-up on (the still criminally underrated) mewithoutYou:

I am writing this on the 10th anniversary of their sixth album, Pale Horses, because I believe that this band, and this album in particular, is still perplexingly overlooked and under-discussed. Part of the reason for this is that it’s hard to explain the band’s appeal. They’re hard to contextualize. Most people just don’t know what their deal is. mewithoutYou appears only sporadically in this fine publication, despite a 20+ year career opening for bands like Cursive and the Dismemberment Plan. One of their songs is namechecked in a 2014 list of 30 songs from the golden era of emo, and there’s a few honorable mentions of their new music in the postscripts of articles about other Songs/Albums of the Week. The only real dedicated coverage came in 2022 in write-ups of the band’s farewell tour.

Turnstile & My Chemical Romance Billboard Charts

Jason Tate

Turnstile debuted at #9 on the Billboard charts and My Chemical Romance returned to #6 with their Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge re-release.

My Chemical Romance’s Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge, released in 2004, reaches the top 10 of the Billboard 200 for the first time, as the set reenters at No. 6 following a deluxe reissue. It previously peaked at No. 28 in 2005. In total, Three Cheers marks the fourth top 10-charting effort for the band, and its second-highest-charting set — second only to the No. 2-peaking The Black Parade in 2006. Three Cheers also marks the band’s first top 10 since April 2014, when the compilation May Death Never Stop You: The Greatest Hits 2001-2013 reached No. 9.

In the tracking week ending June 12, Three Cheers earned nearly 44,000 equivalent album units (up 809%), with album sales comprising 37,000 (up 2,987% — it reenters at a new peak of No. 2 on Top Album Sales; it’s the group’s best sales week since Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys debuted with 112,000 in 2010), SEA units comprise 7,000 (equaling 8.88 million on-demand official streams of the set’s songs) and TEA units comprise a negligible sum. The album’s 44,000 units earned mark the band’s best week by that metric  since the Billboard 200 began ranking titles by units in December 2014.

Hayley Williams Calls Out CCM Industry

Hayley Williams
Jason Tate

Variety:

“The amount of things I have to say and the amount of people i know who were likely changed forever by this man and by the industry that empowered/enabled him… and no one but the TikToker who broke this story has said a word about Michael Tait needing gay-affirming support,” Williams says at the beginning of her message.

New The Ataris Interview

The Ataris
Jason Tate

Mike Davenport of The Ataris talks with Punktastic:

It’s both. It’s both. It’s the resurgence. I can’t say enough about how punk rock, pop punk is back. It’s a beautiful thing. There was a time when what people call emo or screamo, that kind of thing, kind of took over from I would say maybe 2008 to 2015. And things were a lot tougher for pop punk bands, especially in America. So I do believe that there is a resurgence, especially in America and here in Europe as well. Because of bands like Green Day and The Offspring and Blink 182, everybody has come back. All of us, other bands that are the next level below, like Alkaline Trio and The Ataris and bands like that… Less Than Jake… we’ve all seen a resurgence as well. So it’s timing, right? I try to equate it to when we came up in the late 90s. It’s the same timing is happening then as now. I have a 14 year old and my 14 year old is hardcore into punk rock, and I get to see his perspective of me. He loves Green Day. He loves Pierce the Veil. That’s his jam: Sleeping with Sirens, that kind of thing. And his dad just happens to be in The Ataris. So it works out well. He does like those bands more than The Ataris, I’ll tell you that. But he can appreciate us as well.

Coca-Cola Launches Record Label

Cheers
Jason Tate

Coca-Cola have teamed up with Universal Music Group to form a new label.

The new label will take a genre-agnostic approach to signing artists, rather aiming to find authentic voices from around the world. The label aims to be a launchpad for the next generation of music talent, already having signed new artists.

Ingrid Andress, After the Anthem

Ingrid Andress
Jason Tate

Ingrid Andress talks with Glamour about the viral National Anthem performance:

In 2024, country star Ingrid Andress made a mistake: She sang the national anthem at a televised baseball game, and did it drunk. The internet was ruthless in that very particular way that seems to be reserved for successful young women in the public eye. Now, the 33-year-old—happy, peaceful, and working on new music—reflects on the lead-up, the fallout, and the future.

GoFundMe for Longineu Parsons III

gofundme
Jason Tate

A GoFundMe has been started for medical bills for Longineu Parsons III, the former drummer of Yellowcard.

LP3 is facing a life-threatening dental emergency that has sadly prevented him from working and performing. He’s dealing with a rapidly spreading infection and is in urgent need of emergency dental surgery. His medical bills are mounting, and he truly needs our help. LP3 is a vital part of several projects, and any support you can offer would mean the world.

Former Newsboys Frontman Accused of Sexual Assault

Newsboys
Jason Tate

Former Newsboys frontman, Michael Tait, has been accused of grooming and sexual assault:

It’s been called Nashville’s worst-kept secret. For decades, allegations have circulated that Newsboys frontman Michael Tait, formerly of DC Talk, had groomed and sexually assaulted numerous victims.

And after a two-and-a-half-year investigation by The Roys Report (TRR), which included interviewing more than 50 sources, TRR has documented Tait’s alleged predatory pattern with stories dating back more than two decades.

Gibson Launches Search for ‘Back to the Future’ Guitar

Jason Tate

The Hollywood Reporter:

Gibson — the guitar brand behind the iconic cherry red ES-345 Michael J. Fox wielded in the movie — announced that it’s on the hunt for the guitar, with the company sharing a callout Tuesday asking for anyone who may have details on its location to reach out with tips. “Have You Seen This Guitar?” Gibson’s poster reads, accompanied by a still from the movie of Fox playing the instrument. The search — and if all goes the way Gibson would like, the re-discovery — will be featured in an upcoming documentary the company is producing called Lost to the Future. 

Taylor Swift OG Streams Spike

Taylor Swift
Jason Tate

The Hollywood Reporter:

According to figures Spotify shared with The Hollywood Reporter, streams on all of the original versions of her older albums at least doubled on Friday, May 30, compared to the albums’ average daily streams from April 1 through May 29. (Spotify didn’t disclose specific streaming numbers themselves, only percentage changes.)

Marc Maron Ends Podcast

Jason Tate

Marc Maron has announced he’s ending his podcast.

After nearly 16 years spent interviewing musicians, comedians, and other cultural figures, the veteran comedian and actor will release his final episode of the podcast later this fall. Maron broke the news during the post recent WTF episode with John Mulaney, sharing that both he and his producing partner Brendan McDonald are “tired” and “burnt out,” but “utterly satisfied with the work we’ve done.”

Record Labels in Talks to License Music to AI Firms

AI
Jason Tate

Lucas Shaw, writing for Bloomberg:

Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment are pushing to collect license fees for their work and also receive a small amount of equity in Suno and Udio, two leaders among a crop of companies that use generative AI to help make music. Any deal would help settle lawsuits between the two sides, said the people, who declined to be identified because the talks could fall apart.

Dave Shapiro Passes Away

Jason Tate

Dave Shapiro, Sound Talent Group co-founder and former member of Count The Stars, has passed away in a plane crash:

The music agency Sound Talent Group said Thursday that three of its employees, including co-founder Dave Shapiro, died on the private plane that crashed into a San Diego neighborhood.

Shapiro is listed as the owner of the plane and has a pilot’s license, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. Shapiro also owned a flight school called Velocity Aviation and a record label, Velocity Records, according to his LinkedIn page.

Zach Braff Returns for ‘Scrubs’ Reboot

Scrubs
Jason Tate

Hollywood Reporter:

Zach Braff has signed on for the Scrubs update that’s in development at ABC. 

Braff will reprise his role from the 2001-10 series as John, aka J.D., the narrator and central character for most of the show’s first run. ABC confirmed it was developing a Scrubs reboot in December, after creator Bill Lawrence, Braff and other members of the cast had for years said they’d like to reunite.

Tom DeLonge Producing ‘Suburban Kings’

Tom Delonge
Jason Tate

Deadline:

Jaime Eliezer Karas (Acapulco) has come aboard to direct Suburban Kings, a coming-of-age film penned by Peter Hoare (Kevin Can Wait), to be produced by Chris Mangano (Mangano Movies & Media), Blink-182’s Tom DeLonge (To The Stars Media), and Stan Spry (Evoke Entertainment).

The film follows Wolfgang Binder, a rebellious, skateboarding-obsessed 13-year-old, who is hellbent on spending the summer of ’99 cheering up his best friend after the tragic, unexpected death of his mother.