News you may have missed

This week brings us Gen Z ushering in a surprising nu-metal revival, James Hetfield shedding some light on the iconic absence of bass guitar in ‘…And Justice for All,’ Taylor Swift gifting her tour crew with astounding $100,000 bonuses, while Spotify delves into the world of ‘super listeners’, and a documentary exploring the paradoxical journey of Nickelback and their resounding success despite unrelenting criticism. Amidst all this, Meta’s AudioCraft emerges as a potential game-changer for music within the industry. Oh and also some new music was released this week. All of that and more below! Let’s get to it.

OUT NOW: Beauty School Dropout talk all things blink-182 tour, new music, and twerking for Travis Barker

For this episode, John and Tyler get to hang out with a band that should be on everyone’s radar: Beauty School Dropout. If you don’t know about them currently, you will soon.

They are currently signed to Verswire (run by Sherry Saeedi, Mark Hoppus, Pete Wentz, and Nick Lippman) They already hit the road opening up for blink-182 on their massive reunion tour. We talk about that, as well as some behind-the-scenes stories of being on that tour, what the experience was like, what they learned, all of it.

And if there is one story you NEED to stay and listen to, it’s their story about their photographer, Juan, who tried to impress Travis Barker with a twerk… It sounds as crazy as the story is.

But we talk about everything, including songwriting with some of the best songwriters in the business, as well as their newly released track “beautiful waste” which we highly recommend checking out since it truly has the makings to be a hit.  That track will be included on their recently announced sophomore full-length album titled READY TO EAT which is scheduled for release on October 13th.

Here are the links to follow The All Punked Up Podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

News you may have missed from last week

Some of the links below may be to publications other than All Punked Up.

NEW: What kind of music lover has the most partners?

ICYMI: Aliens Exist?! Tom DeLonge was right?!

Gen Z Is Bringing Back Nu-Metal. Nu metal, a genre popular in the late 1990s and early 2000s, is experiencing a resurgence among younger listeners, particularly Generation Z, thanks to TikTok, the Y2K revival, and enduring teenage angst. Bands like Deftones and Slipknot are resonating with this new audience. Nu metal blends heavy sounds with elements of hip-hop, funk, and alternative rock, and its lyrics often touch on dark subjects like pain, depression, and alienation. The genre’s flamboyant style, with oversized outfits, silver chains, and unique hairstyles, is also attracting attention. The internet has made it easier for Gen Z to explore and embrace various genres, leading to the genre’s renewed popularity. Some popular artists today, such as Grimes and Demi Lovato, are incorporating elements of nu-metal into their music, and even bands from the original nu-metal era, like Kittie, are experiencing renewed interest and success. Overall, nu-metal’s themes of teenage angst and emotional connection continue to resonate with new and old fans alike.

James Hetfield reveals the real reason there is no bass guitar on ‘…And Justice for All’. Fans have assumed it was a dig at bassist Jason Newsted, who replaced the deceased Cliff Burton and faced hazing and torment from the band. However, lead vocalist James Hetfield clarifies that the decision was primarily due to the band’s hearing damage and exhaustion during the recording process. They wanted the best-sounding record but ended up turning up the high-end, which inadvertently diminished the bass. Hetfield does not regret the decision and believes altering the album now would change history. Despite the controversy, the album is still considered one of the greatest metal records ever made. Jason Newsted does not hold any bad feelings toward the band regarding this matter.

Taylor Swift surprises tour crew members with $100,000 bonuses. T Swift’s “The Eras Tour” is rewriting the record books and will undoubtedly go down as one of the most lucrative tours in history–and for the time being, will hold the top spot as she alone is set to walk away with over half a billion dollars. Most likely realizing this blessing, in a remarkable display of generosity, Swift is giving back to her hardworking tour crew. According to TMZ, the singer has chosen to reward her crew members with impressive bonuses of $100,000 each. Yes, you read that right. One. Hundred. Thousand. Dollars. Each?! Wow.

Some stats on Spotify’s “super listeners”. US market monitor Luminate recently published stats showing that 15% of the general population in the US are ‘superfans’, who spend 80% more on music each month compared to the average US-based music listener. Physical music buyers like vinyl, CDs, or cassette tape consumers are more than twice as likely to be music superfans. Spotify conducted a study on ‘super listeners’, defining them as die-hard fans who account for over 18% of an artist’s monthly streams despite making up only 2% of monthly listeners. Super listeners also make a significant number of merch purchases. Latin America has the highest concentration of super listeners, with Chile and Mexico topping the list. Spotify’s study coincides with the launch of a new ‘super listeners’ audience segment on the Spotify for Artists platform.

Hot Mulligan announce fall tour with Heart Attack Man, Spanish Love Songs, Ben Quad. Hot Mulligan will embark on a fall tour to support their album “Why Would I Watch,” joined by Heart Attack Man, Spanish Love Songs, and Ben Quad. The tour starts in November in Cincinnati and covers cities like Toronto, Philadelphia, Houston, and San Francisco, among others. Tickets are on-sale now and can be purchased here.

blink-182’s Tom DeLonge celebrates being right about aliens as US Congress namedrop him. The blink-182 guitarist celebrated being proven correct about aliens existing after witnesses and whistleblowers testified about UFOs in a House Oversight subcommittee hearing. DeLonge’s company, To The Stars Academy of Arts & Science, had previously made public videos of UFOs confirmed by the US Navy in 2019. He took to Instagram to express pride in the witnesses and noting the UFO hearings made history stating “The UFO Hearings today made history. I am so proud of the three witnesses today that blew the lid off the UFO secrecy that has been intact for decades. Graves, Fravor and Grusch are HEROES. I appreciated the shout-out during the hearing, but so many were involved with @tothestars.media to make this happen”. Fans expressed excitement on social media, with one user noting how it’s remarkable that the government had to admit the existence of UFOs due to DeLonge’s involvement.

Simple Plan announce 2024 tour with State Champs and Mayday Parade. Canadian pop-punk band Simple Plan has announced a 2024 tour of the UK and Europe, featuring 20 shows between January and February. State Champs and Mayday Parade will be supporting them on the tour. The tour will cover cities such as Paris, Barcelona, Milan, Berlin, Cologne, Manchester, Glasgow, Birmingham, Leeds, and London. Tickets for the tour can be purchased here.

First Trailer for Nickelback Documentary Explores All the Hate. The documentary “Hate To Love: Nickelback” has released its first official trailer ahead of its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. Directed by Leigh Brooks, the film explores Nickelback’s farm town origins, musical ambitions, global success, and the hate they have faced as a band. Despite being heavily criticized, Nickelback has achieved tremendous success, with multi-platinum record sales and RIAA diamond certification for their album “All The Right Reasons.” The trailer features candid interviews with the band members about the impact of the hate they receive and how it has gradually softened in recent years.

Drive-Thru Records releasing Hellogoodbye vinyl. It’s been announced that the old label is releasing Hellogoodbye’s Zombies! Aliens! Vampires! Dinosaurs! on vinyl. Pre-orders are available here.

5 Ways AI Has Already Changed the Music Industry. This is a pretty cool inside look at how AI is playing a big role in the music industry. And it’s not the freaky trending ways we’ve been getting accustomed to. From revolutionizing production, getting stems, and songwriters being able to pitch songs to artists with the artist’s voice already on the track, AI is currently, and will continue to be, a major factor going forward.

Ronnie Radke Says It’s Easier to Write Metalcore Than a Pop Hit. Ronnie’s at it again. This time tweeting: “It’s so much easier to write a fucking metalcore song, than sit down and write a fucking HIT single that breaks the billboard hot 100 charts. So tired of these clowns acting like making metal is some crazy ass impossible concept that only a few know how to do, here’s your chord profession 0000-000-000-1-000-000-000-1 congratulations. you just played the open chord for 14 fucking albums.” Is he right?

Meta’s AI music generator could be the new synthesizer — or just muzak. Meta introduced AudioCraft, an open-source AI code for music and sound creation through generative AI. Comprising three distinct AI models, MusicGen generates music from text inputs, trained on extensive music data, while AudioGen simulates sounds like barking dogs from written prompts using public sound effects. An enhanced EnCodec decoder minimizes audio manipulation artifacts. Initial media samples demonstrated AudioCraft’s ability to generate natural noises like whistling and sirens, although musical elements such as guitar strings still had an artificial quality.

New and notable songs, videos, and albums released this week

• The Maine drop new self-titled album, release video for “dose no. 2”.
• Bearings – “Slip” music video
• The Hives – “Trapdoor Solution” and “The Bomb”
• Hawthorne Heights – “The Storm”
• Beauty School Dropout – “beautiful waste”
• Meet Me @ The Altar share Freaky Friday cover “Take Me Away”
• The Story So Far share first new music in 5 years with “Big Blind”
• Spanish Love Songs – “Marvel”
• Pinkshift – “Home”. The band also announced their upcoming EP Suraksha will be released on October 13th.
• Yungblud – “Lowlife” music video
• The Word Alive – “Hate Me” featuring Loveless

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