The A.V. Club’s latest edition of their Undercover series is barely underway, and yet this is the second time that we’ve decided to feature a performance from it. It’s hard to ague with wanting to share this video of the Punch Brothers taking on The Cars’ classic track Just What I Needed. Chris Thile & Co., who have helped to take bluegrass into the 21st century, have once again reinvented the genre with their cover of the 1978 classic, and thus will now be known as the founding fathers of New Wave-grass.
The Punch Brothers will head out for a lengthy U.S. tour, which includes high profile appearances at the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival and Newport Folk this summer.
Last August Warner Bros. Records released a press statement saying that Van Halen would record a new album and tour in 2011. Yet since that announcement we haven’t heard much about the group’s plans. That changed today as we now know that Van Halen, featuring David Lee Roth on vocals, will headline a touring festival of Australia called Soundwave Revolution from Sept. 24 – Oct. 4.
While there’s no word on any possible U.S. tour dates, this is certainly a step in the right direction for those Van Halen fans who are itching to hear new material and see more shows. Alice Cooper, Bad Religion, Hole and Panic! at the Disco are among the bands who will be joining Van Halen at various Soundwave Revolution stops.
Let’s take a quick look at six other stories of note…
Finally, we’ve been really excited about one of our favorite groups from childhood, The Cars, reforming to record a new album and to tour. The Cars played their first show in nearly 25 years last night at The Showbox in Seattle. Slicing Up Eyeballs has a few videos of the comeback gig and will update the post when better quality clips surface.
It’s no secret that we here around HT HQ have been giddy with anticipation to hear Move Like This, the first album of new material in over two decades from influential New Wave act The Cars. While it seemed unlikely that that band was going to play any live dates, especially after Ric told Rolling Stone that he was “leery of touring,” last week the reunited act announced that they would in fact be heading out together in support of the new record.
For their first tour together in nearly 25 years, The Cars have lined up a 10-date run that includes stops at the Palladium in Los Angeles (5/12), Riviera Theatre in Chicago (5/18) and New York’s Roseland Ballroom (5/25).
If you’re not into a night with the reunited New Wave act, then maybe you’ll be interested in hitting one of these recently announced tours…
Finally, while folks in Chicago may disagree with this decision, Yo La Tengo has announced a slew of new Spinning Wheel tour dates. As a refresher the shows on the tour will be split into two sets, with the first part determined by a spin on their Wheel Of Fortune, which features eight distinct themes like The Freewheeling Yo La Tengo, Condo Fucks, Songs Starting With S and the now infamous Sitcom Theater. The second set features a more straightforward approach with the indie-rock trio selecting their own setlist. The tour will kick off with a two-night stand at The Bell House in Brooklyn, NY on May 10 & 11.
Last month, The Cars released the first video from of their upcoming reunion album to the song, Blue Tip, which gave fans a modernized twist on the band’s quintessentially ’80s sound. This week, the band released the second video for Sad Song, which sounds 100% like the old-school Cars, complete with a finely produced, entirely ’80s style music video. The new album, Move Like This, which drops May 10th, is fixing up to be one of our most anticipated releases of the year.
In the latest issue of Rolling Stone, Ric Ocasek refers to The Cars second go-around together as a conjunction, not a reunion; telling the music mag that a little over a year ago he found himself a batch of new songs that he thought would be best suited to be recorded by the seminal New Wave band. A smidge over two decades after going on “hiatus,” the surviving members of the band, who have been teasing fans with their decision to regroup via Facebook, headed into the studio to lay down tracks for the group’s seventh studio album and first since 1987′s Door to Door.
After splitting time recording in upstate New York and in Los Angeles, The Cars, who made our recent list of Bands We’re Excited About In ’11, will release Move Like This on May 10 via Concord Music with five tracks produced by Gareth “Jackknife” Lee (U2, R.E.M.) and the rest by the band. Last week, Ric Ocasek & Co. dropped their first music video since the 1980s for the synth-heavy tune Blue Tip, which takes the classic Cars sound and brings it into this century. Take a gander…
A few months back we reported that seminal pop-rock band The Cars had taken to their official Facebook page posting a photo of the surviving band members in a recording studio with the message “anyone in the mood for a reunion by The Cars?”. More recently, the new wave band – who have been recording new material at a studio in Millbrook, NY – uploaded a 73-second preview of a new tune called Blue Tip and according to Billboard, are “strongly considering” touring, though no dates have been locked in.
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Finally, there are a pair of upcoming tribute albums that we wanted to tell you about, as both country legend Loretta Lynn and indie-rock stalwarts Guided By Voices will receive the tribute treatment. Hitting stores first, on November 9 is Coal Miner’s Daughter: A Tribute To Loretta Lynn, which features the likes of Lucinda Williams, Steve Earle, Kid Rock and the return of The White Stripes. While early next year, the still untitled GBV tribute, will see The Flaming Lips, Blitzen Trapper, Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit, Thurston Moore and more, tackling selections from the band’s catalog.
Call it a sign of the times, but rumors that The Cars will reunite began to surface earlier this week after the seminal pop-rock band posted this picture to their official Facebook page showing the surviving members playing in the studio together with caption – “anyone in the mood for a reunion by The Cars?” The band, who broke up in 1987 shortly after the release of their sixth studio Door To Door, staged a comeback under the moniker The New Cars in 2005 without original lead singer Ric Ocasek and drummer David Robinson. Sadly, bassist Benjamin Orr passed away in 2000.
Finally, we’re just a day from the start of the Newport Folk Festival, which this year kicks off with a night of “banjo and bluegrass” at the International Tennis Hall Of Fame tomorrow night, before moving to the festival grounds at Fort Adams State Park. After a cut on his hand required 19 stitches Justin Townes Earle was forced to cancel his appearance at the fest. Through some good fortune and even better timing, Earle will be replaced by Elvis Perkins In Dearland – who had called inquiring about passes for the event and instead were offered the vacated slot. Individual and two-day passes for the Newport Folk Festival are still available and can be purchased here.
, the first album of new material in over two decades from influential New Wave act 
.
on May 10 via Concord Music with five tracks produced by Gareth “Jackknife” Lee (U2, R.E.M.) and the rest by the band. Last week, Ric Ocasek & Co. dropped their first music video since the 1980s for the synth-heavy tune Blue Tip, which takes the classic Cars sound and brings it into this century. Take a gander…
, which features the likes of Lucinda Williams, Steve Earle, Kid Rock and the return of The White Stripes. While early next year, the still 
