Hey gang, what’s good?!

New year means new releases, and we got three, count ’em THREE singles coming your way. The first one comes from Brendan Kelly and the Wandering Birds; and Brendan, our long-time co-conspirator recently explained the project in great detail with Alt Press. The single, along with two B-sides are available NOW from iTunes for under 2 bucks. Full-length coming in March 2012.

Next up will be a 2-song 7″ from The Menzingers. They have a new full-length coming out February 21st and I think it’s tentatively titled, Album of the Year. Fuck yeah it is. The poor folks at Epitaph desperately needed our help in releasing this limited 7″, so we agreed, but only in exchange for the rights to their Coffin Break titles. Seriously people, Coffin Break ruled, just ask Kent. In any case, we’re taking pre-orders for this 7″ now, but it’ll be be at least a couple weeks before we ship this pig. The band will also have it available on their upcoming tour with Rise Against.

And finally, we have news from our beloved Sidekicks. Their new CD/LP will also be out on February 21st and it’s tentatively dubbed, Actually Better Than The Menzingers, If You Can Believe That, Asshole. Sounds like a working title or something we made up, BUT, we will have a 4-song digital single called Grace that hits iTunes on January 17th with a physical 45 RPM 7″ to follow shortly thereafter. You can place a pre-order now, but it will be at least 3 weeks before we see these things. Stay tuned for more deets regarding The Sidekicks upcoming record, or visit their FB BandPage to see upcoming tour dates and more.

Hey out there. Everything goin’ okay? Hope so.

A ton of great shit is happening with our new releases from The Copyrights and Nothington. The Copys are busy out playing shows on the West Coast at the moment, then they’ll head out East with Strike Anywhere. And just when we all thought that North Sentinel Island was the best record of 2011, along came Nothington with their Red Scare debut, Borrowed Time. That thing will be in stores soon, but is available available on iTunes now or from our webstore for a measly 9 bucks. Our comrades at Punknews are streaming a few songs from the album if you want to hear what all the fuss is about. We’re really excited about these new ones, and hope you’re enjoying ’em too…

The other batch o’ bullshit that is going down over at the Red Scare HQ is our annual showcase: Red Oktoberfest! It’s always fun to see friends out at shows, and we promise to make it a real “fest” again one of these years, but for now you’ll have to settle for the usual Chicago shitholes. Oh, you love it. Now click here to RSVP for the shows. Read on for details on the lineup and shit…

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 30th @ BEAT KITCHEN, 8:30pm

Cobra Skulls (new record on Fat, but we still love ’em)
Nothington (debut full length out in September, old homies)
The Brokedowns (old faves, local yokels, we needed some lookers)
The Outsiders (from New Zealand, on Anchorless Recs)

For more show info, tix: http://beatkitchen.com/calendar.htm#0930

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 1st @ UNDERGROUND LOUNGE, 10pm

Special Guests (super secret band, you’ll be stoked)
Reaganomics (rad LP in 2011, hometown heroes, great hair)
TBA (not sure yet, hmmm…)

You probably saw this coming when we were so giddy to announce the recent Nothington EP a short while back, and you guessed right: Red Scare will be releasing the next Nothington FULL LENGTH later this Summer! It’s called Borrowed Time and it’s out on September 13th (or the week before through digital retailers). As with their previous LPs on BYO, it was recorded by Scott Llamas at PopSmear Studios out in the SF Bay; and we can say with ample confidence that this is their best record and most likable batch of songs we’ve ever heard outta this band. It’s good. Real good.

Nothington will also be heading out on a big-ass tour with those Fat Wreck sellouts, Cobra Skulls in September through November. Suffice it to say, these guys are gonna bust ass in support of Borrowed Time and will be touring the continent like a small herd o’ hobos. We’ll have more news regarding the album in the coming weeks, but until then you can take a peek at the tour poster to slake your thirst for what’s to come: