Sudbury, Ontario's Statues are gearing up to release their new record Holiday Cops via Deranged Records in North America and P. Trash Records in Europe. Four songs from the effort can be streamed at the band's MySpace page.

To support Holiday Cops Statues will embark on a four week, 30 date tour of Europe. The first leg will feature Sweden's Smalltown, while the second will feature another Sudbury band, Vicious Cycle.

University of Wisconsin, Platteville based radio station WSUP has announced the return of their webcast punk and ska show. The Upbeats and Beatdowns is now available online for the first time in two years, every Wednesday night from 8 PM to 1 AM CST. More info can be found at the show's Facebook and MySpace page.

The show airing tonight will feature an interview with Streetlight Manifesto along with a stream of the new live Dropkick Murphys record. A [[Rise Against] interview will air on the 24th of March, with the Murphys on-air for an interview on the 31st.

If you could associate any one phrase with Minus The Bear it would have to be genre defying. Their usage of mind-blowing guitar tapping techniques, supported and smoothed out by a jazzy, laid back rhythmic section has had journalists and music critics alike stumped when attempting to determine a proper label for the Seattle natives. Punknews contributor Matt Pagirsky recently had a chance to talk to drummer Erin Tate about the forthcoming new album, their current label situation, the always-evolving Seattle scene they were bred from, and the real truth about the dirtiness of their comrades in Portugal. The Man.

Hardcore supergroup No Friends have booked an east coast tour alongside Deep Sleep that kicks off early next month.

The band, which features members of Municipal Waste, New Mexican Disaster Squad, Virgins, Gatorface and None More Black, will release a new 12" EP in conjunction with the tour that'll follow-up their 2009 debut.

Alternative Press is hosting a stream of the new 7" from Small Brown Bike, Composite Vol. 2, which was released yesterday and is the second in their 7" series of new material for No Idea Records. The first, Composite, Vol. 1, was released last year. Check out the stream here.

Speaking of Composite, Vol. 1, AP is also hosting a video for "Hourglass," a song from that record.

When's Lunch Records will be releasing the debut EP from Vancouver, BC punks The Split Ups this spring, in both vinyl and digital formats.

Some music can be heard at the band's MySpace page.

Sound as Language has posted another album for free download, this one the new LP from San Diego, CA indie rockers Fever Sleeves.

Head to this page to download Soft Pipes, Play On.

OK Go, viral video superstars and noted Rube Goldberg enthusiasts, have parted ways with major label EMI, largely amidst disagreements regarding the embedding of the band's famous music videos. The issue saw singer Damian Kulash come out in favor of embeddable music videos in both a statement on the band's website and in an op-ed piece for the New York Times, believing that EMI disabling embedding on the band's videos, including for new single "This Too Shall Pass", was hindering the fans' ability to enjoy the videos as well as the band's ability to gain publicity through them.

To that end, the band has formed a new independent label called Paracadute Recordings and will now take over all distribution and promotional work for their recent full-length, Of the Blue Colour of the Sky.

Sun God, a new band featuring members of Vietnam Werewolf and The Fucking Cops, have announced some tour dates alongside This Moment in Black History that kick off this Friday.

The bands will be touring behind a new split 12" entitled Zombie Proofed for SNAX/Smog Veil Records.

Exclaim TV has posted a video interview with Leatherface in which the band talks about myriad of things, including their longevity, the excitement of running their own label (Big Ugly Fish) and the price of Canadian beer.

The band's new album, The Stormy Petrel, is due out on March 23, 2010 via No Idea Records in North America and on March 22, 2010 via Big Ugly Fish in the band's native UK. It's currently streaming at their Punknews.org page.

Our stream today comes from San Francisco, CA-based The Sweet Revenge. We've got a stream of the band's new full length, Creatures of Routine.

You can check it out on their Punknews.org page. If you like what you hear, you may want to consider downloading it for free from Death to False Hope Records.

Blurt Online is reporting that seminal emo group Sunny Day Real Estate will be hitting the studio in May to record a new album. No word yet on a release date or label. The band's first two albums, Diary and LP2, were reissued by Sub Pop Records in 2009. Once out, it'll be the band's first new studio album since 2000's The Rising Tide.

The band reunited for shows last year and will perform at Coachella next month.

Deep Elm Records has announced the signing of Dayton, KY trio The Lions Rampant. The label has already released the band's new full-length, It's Fun to do Bad Things, through iTunes and eMusic, and has also reissued their two EPs, 2008's Play Rock N Roll and 2007's Half Women Half Alcohol.

The band has also uploaded a video for "Lights On," a track from the new album.

Cincinnatil, OH's Pomegranates have announced some tour dates, with separate legs featuring Jookabox and Aloha.

The band's 2008 full-length Everything Is Alive was just reissued on vinyl by Broken Circles Records.

Adam Yauch, known to the kids as MCA, recently revealed that the new Beastie Boys record Hot Sauce Committee Part I is expected to be released in September. The album had been planned for last year but was delayed after Yauch was diagnosed with cancer. Yauch had this to say about the album:

"We finished the record over a year ago, so we want to take a look at it and re-evaluate and make sure it is what we want to put out there and that we are still happy with it. I don't think we will change it up too much."

Once out, Hot Sauce Committee Part I will follow-up 2007's The Mix-Up and be the band's first album with vocals since 2004's To the 5 Boroughs.

Deftones have posted a new video for "Rocket Skates," the first single from the band's new album Diamond Eyes, due out May 18, 2010.

Off with Their Heads have announced some more tour dates after SXSW, mostly in the western half of the United States.

The band last released From The Bottom in 2008, and their as-yet-untitled debut for Epitaph Records is expected out on June 1, 2010.

Austin Lucas has booked a few May gigs in the UK alongside El Morgan.

Lucas continues to support 2009's Somebody Loves You. He's currently touring down to Harvest of Hope Fest in Florida.

National Underground has posted a new track from Good Luck in their most recent "Bands You Need To Know" (Harvest of Hope Edition). The song is titled "Novel Figure" and can be downloaded from the feature.

Good Luck is playing a few East Coast dates after their Harvest of Hope appearance and is revving up to release the followup to Into Lake Griffy, their acclaimed debut that was self-released in 2008.

In a continuing effort to continue bring our readers original content with as little editorial interference as possible, Punknews is happy to premiere the first chapter of our new "Band on Band" feature. In these features two bands on opposing sides of a split release will take turns asking each other five questions.

In this edition, Victor Alvarez of The Knockdown and Elliot Meyer of How Dare You trade queries about band life, inspiration, fatherhood and other topics so engaging they end up breaking the five question rule in our very first segment. Both bands are part of a split 7" available from Kiss of Death.