This week, Vans announced another seven bands to their official lineup for the 2012 Vans Warped Tour. Like last year, the plan is to announce more bands each week through April, until the whole lineup is revealed.

The latest additions consist of:

Funeral Party
Hydro Da Hero
Lost In Society
Title Fight
T Mills
Living With Lions
Rise To Remain

As far as I'm concerned, the most exciting pick from this week's announcement is Vancouver's Living With Lions, a band that's been around for a while but made headlines this past spring with the release of their provocatively titles full-length Holy Shit (Compare Prices). Far from being a simple attempt at shocking the masses, it's a solid punk rock release that makes them a band worthy of this year's Warped roster.

Out of this announcement, who are you most interested in seeing?

We'll be keeping tabs on all the bands as they're officially announced, along with any unofficial rumored additions on our listing of the lineup for the 2012 Vans Warped Tour.

And while we're still waiting for the remaining bands to be announced, we want to hear who you'd most like to see on the 2012 Vans Warped Tour!

Photo courtesy of Adeline Records

In what could shape up to some of the biggest news in punk rock this year, Swedish hardcore band Refused have announced a few reunion shows for summer 2012. Their first appearances since their breakup in the late '90s, it consists of performances at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on April 13 and 20 and the Way Out West Festival in Sweden Aug. 9-11.

The band responsible for the groundbreaking album The Shape of Punk to Come, an album with an auspicious title that actually held its own, issued a statement on their website that read in part:

We never did 'The shape of punk to come' justice back when it came out, too tangled up in petty internal bickering to really focus on the job. And suddenly there's this possibility to do it like it was intended. We wanna do it over, do it right. For the people who've kept the music alive through the years, but also for our own sakes.

We feel that you deserve it and we hope the feeling is mutual.

The full statement is here.

In addition, future live dates are in the works, and my personal hope would be for a new album (but this is an entirely personal hope, not a rumor at all).

We'll keep you posted on future dates as they're announced.

This week, Vans announced seven more bands on their official lineup for the 2012 Vans Warped Tour. Like last year, the plan is to announce more bands each week through April, until the whole lineup is revealed.

The latest additions consist of:

A Loss For Words
blessthefall
Impending Doom
Machine Gun Kelly
Man Overboard
Stepdad
Super Water Sympathy

The latest announcement confirms that blessthefall will be on the tour, a rumor we made note of a while ago after frontman Beau Bokan mentioned his upcoming wedding plans, saying "We may have to wait until right after summer because we plan on playing the Warped Tour this year."

Out of this announcement, who are you most interested in seeing?

We'll be keeping tabs on all the bands as they're officially announced, along with any unofficial rumored additions on our listing of the lineup for the 2012 Vans Warped Tour.

And while we're still waiting for the remaining bands to be announced, we want to hear who you'd most like to see on the 2012 Vans Warped Tour!

Photo courtesy of blessthefall

I have this weakness for getting my hair cut at places named after songs. Back in Detroit, I got my hair cut at a place called London Calling. Here is Amsterdam, my hair allegiance has switched to a place called Oh, You Pretty Things.

Oh, You Pretty Things is a cool little space on the Spui (just so you know - it's pronounced "Spow," not "Spooey," like I was saying when I first got here). Everyone who works there is really cool, too, giving it a great vibe. It's like one of those barbershops where everyone hangs out in on various TV shows - if those barber shops also played metal and let you drink coffee or wine while you were in there.

Clint who cuts my hair is also the guitarist for an excellent band here in the 'Dam called Wookie Mama. Wookie Mama's sound is a nostalgic throwback to the early '90s for me, when grunge hadn't yet become an abused A&R term that lead to the horrible creation of bands like Candlebox. It's more like early great "Big Dumb Sex"-era Soundgarden, with a thick dirty rock sound, dripping with sweat that's liberally flavored with cheap beer and cigarette smoke from a time when venues were more likely to be filled with smoke.

You can download one of their tracks for free:

Wookie Mama - "Warning" MP3

More Recent MP3 Downloads:

Sober Dave and the Snowmen - It's a Sober Christmas EP
The Electric Six - "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" MP3
Dead Milkmen - "Fauxhemia" MP3
Marvelous Darlings - "I Don't Wanna Go To The Party" MP3
Total Slacker - "Secret VHS Collection" MP3