Hey friends, once again Red Scare is bringing you some good news in the world of classic-sounding pop punk. Sometimes the sub-genre can be real frustrating, but every once in a while a band like Hanson Brothers or Teenage Bottlerocket comes along and pays proper tribute to our great forefathers, The Ramones. We honestly feel that Masked Intruder is one of those few, special bands to adequately honor their good name and follow in their footsteps… problem is, they’re criminals. No really, Masked Intruder are four total goombahs who met behind bars and formed a punk band. We ran a background check and we’re not sure where they’re from, who they are, or what they did to end up in the joint. To be honest, we don’t really care to delve into their shady past, we just know that their band is really fucking good and that THEY ONLY WRITE IN ALL-CAPS. With songs like “Gimme Parole” and “ADT Security”, we’ll be bringing you the digital release of their 5-song debut EP, First Offense on March 6th; while Wisconsin’s Hang Up Records will be handling the 7″. Furthermore, they’ll be doing time (hardy har) at Atlas Studios in April for a full length.

In other good Ramonesy news, we’re happy to announce that we’ll be doing something (kinda) new with our old friends, The Lillingtons. We’ve teamed up with those lovable hermits to bring you an updated version of their criminally-underrated album, The Backchannel Broadcast. It’s getting a major facelift: new artwork and an up-to-date mastering job by original producer, Mass Giorgini. That will also be available on iTunes/Spotify/Amazon on March 6th and we’re taking pre-orders for the CD now. It won’t be in stores until April-ish, but don’t let that stop you from peeping the new and improved cover art below:

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…)