June 22nd, 2012

The Flaming Lips are close to completing their thirteenth regular studio album, which the band’s frontman Wayne Coyne has told Rolling Stone is shaping up to be their ‘best ever album’.

Frightened Rabbit have announced a nine-date tour of the UK & Ireland beginning in September at the Portrush Playhouse.

The Vaccines have released a new live EP as a free download which can be found at Vaccinesep.com.

Radiohead will re-schedule seven European shows following the tragic Toronto stage collapse last weekend which killed their crew member Scott Johnson and also injured three others.

Coldplay frontman Chris Martin has said ‘he doesn’t care’ if people do not like his band, and has advised anyone of that opinion to ‘go watch TV or listen to Oasis‘ instead.

The summer UK festival season is getting into full swing in fitting style as the Isle Of Wight event kicks off today (June 22nd), with festival-goers being greeted by on-site flooding as they make their way to the event.

Tom Petty was joined onstage by Spencer Davis Group legend Steve Winwood during the Heartbreakers‘ gig at London’s Royal Albert Hall last night (June 20th).

Give up! Surrender! Raise the white flag!

Rock music is dead, the charts have been annexed by a vicious, new age talent-show cloned army and all hope for our guitar-wielding heroes has disappeared forever. We should all know the story by now.

And yet there’s The Maccabees, currently enjoying their best ever year thank you very much. As contemporaries from the last decade flog their new albums from boxes on street corners, and dream-chasing upcoming bands look to fight off the Simon Cowell-led tyranny from the underground, The Maccabees quietly gave their third album ‘Given To The Wild’ up to that most unattainable of Holy Grails – critical acclaim and genuine commercial success. Maybe hope isn’t lost after all.

The Maccabees at Webster Hall, NYC