The Queens of the Stone Age are back in true rock fashion with a hot new album and music video "Sick, Sick, Sick" - a hard-rocking and catchy cruncher that is sure to make long-time fans happy and undoubtedly recruit new legions of hard rockers.

Fresh CDs of the band's new release Era Vulgaris hit the stores last month and "Sick, Sick, Sick" has been spinning non-stop on rock radio stations worldwide, even making it to #36 on Billboard's Rock Singles chart.

Era Vulgaris is a fantastic rock album and lives up to what would be expected from professional rockers. Rolling Stone magazine rock critic Rob Sheffield sums it up well:

"The latest release is Homme's fifth Queens album, and like the others, it's intricately crafted, meticulously polished and ruthlessly efficient in its pursuit of depraved rock thrills..."

Fans seem to dig it too. Read what Amazon.com reviewers think.


A Cast of Constantly Shifting Characters

QOSA or QOSTA (will someone decide which it is to be) has had many pauses and starts since the band's 1997 formation and band members have quit, rejoined, quit again, substituted and collaborated with other artists on various projects and musical endeavors.

In addition to the release of two albums - R and Songs for the Deaf - in the past five years, QOSA founding members, singer and guitarist Josh Homme and bassist Nick Oliveri, also scored the soundtrack to the movie The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys with help from Brad Wilk, drummer for Rage Against the Machine.

In 2005, Homme reunited with some past band members and contributing artists to release the LP Lullabies to Paralyze. The group also played a couple of years on the OzzFest tour.


For fans that are really curious of the number of rockers who have played, or are still members, in the band, check out their biography on AllMusic.com - the best online source for music of all kinds.

Just a few of them include The Screaming Trees' Van Conner, Soundgarden's Matt Cameron, and Dinosaur Jr.'s Mike Johnson and musicians from bands like Fu Manchu and Monster Magnet. Even Foo Fighters Ex-Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl has performed with the band.



QOSA Summer of 2007 Show Dates


Queens of the Stone Age are set to headline the Live 105FM (San Francisco) Bloc Party fest on June 9 at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, California, approximately 30 miles south of San Francisco. A number of other popular indie artists will also be playing at the all day show.

Here are some of the other gigs QOSA have scheduled as of today's date for the summer of 2007:




6/7/2007
Radio
Fresno Fair Grounds
KFRR's Birthday Bash www.1041fresno.com for more details

6/8/2007
Radio
Ventura County Fairgrounds
KJEE Presents The Seaside Beach Ball at
The Ventura Fairgrounds http://www.kjee.com/

8/4/2007
Concert
Indianapolis, IN Murat Centre

Labels: QOSA, QOSA Songs, Queens of the Stone Age, Queens of the Stone Age Concerts, Queens of the Stone Age Official Website, Sick Sick Sick Video

They turned their back on classical piano and formed a hot indie hard rock band, the Snowdogs, a three-piece rock outfit from Finland that is just waiting to explode.

“Who?” you say?

OK, here’s the deal: The band’s name doesn't really convey the hard rock scene that they definitely have earned their place in.

Snowdogs punch out infectious hard rock with memorable hooks that are reminiscent of The Replacements, Green Day and Blues Traveler.

But that damn name. Snowdogs vocalist and guitarist Ville Leppanen conceded to Crazewire in a 2004 interview, that it didn’t help the band any when Disney Studios released the movie “Snow Dogs,” (2003) a cuddly-sweet G-rated movie about a novice leader of a dog sled team starring the "what-ever-happened-to-Cuba-Gooding-Jr."

After school they joined up with drummer Benjy Reid and worked diligently to release their cogent 2001 debut Animal Farm.

The band’s freshmen work quickly won acclaim among the British music press and soon forged a relationship that led to their signing on with the popular U.S. independent label Victory Records.

The influence of the 70’s arena-rock band Rush is no accident. Ville’s brother and bassist Mat Leppanen is a huge Rush fan. The two Finnish brothers are American educated classical pianists.

Snowdogs caught on pretty fast in the European indie rock scene after releasing their second album, Deep Cuts, Best Remedies (2003) gained the band a healthy dose of attention from mainstream, but especially college rock, radio shows and indie blogs.

In the extremely competitive, and easily-disposable, world of the rock business, Snowdays ascended to rock notarity fairly fast, but found themselves craving to score as many high-profile gigs as soon as possible while they had the momentum - another savvy move. Rolling Stone magazine even compared them to REM.

With the confluence of all the right elements and of course the proven talent to make solid, memorable indie and alternative rock, Snowdogs was now a group fans wanted to see and before long the band was opening for lead acts like Blink 182, MXPX, Alkaline Trio and Less Than Jake.

Overall, the Victory release of Deep Cuts, Best Remedies did well in Europe, but not as well in the U.S. Nevertheless, tracks like “End of the World” and “Your Sorry Ass” are great examples of the band’s talent and why they’ve earned rock and roll credibility.

Another track “Hell Outta Dodge” is a catchy pop rocker reminiscent of D-Generation laced with hints of Aerosmith and Blues Traveler.

Despite the album’s solid catalog of fresh and catchy rock songs interlaced with thrilling moments of great rock jams, the most influential gaggles of rock music critics and publications in the U.S. either did not hear them or failed to realize just how good these guys are.

Labels: Alkaline Trio, Alternative Rock, Artist of the Week, Best Indie 2007, Best Indie Artists, Blink 182, College Radio, D Generation, Indie Hard Rock, Less Than Jake, MXPX, Snowdogs

The popular indie rock quartet from Denver, The Fray, have been soaring to new heights thanks to a hit single and album that are feeding a frenzy of flocks of new fans.

To the delight of a fast-growing fan base across the pond, the band has announced two concert dates in Ireland and the UK for later this year.

The first show will be October 23rd at the Royal Theatre, Castlebar, England. The following night, the band flies over to Ireland to rock the National Stadium in Dublin.

Tickets are now on sale for both performances. Special guest is none other than Peter Yorn.

The band has already sold a combined total of five million albums and singles in the U.S. just this year. Their hit single, "How To Save A Life" remained on the Billboard top ten charts for four weeks. Many songs are on the album are memorable; one my favorites is "Heaven Forbid".

mp3: Heaven Forbid - The Fray
(get more mp3s from The Fray and other great bands by subscribing to Feed Me Indie)

During that time, The Fray sold an estimated 150,000 units in the UK alone - in one month.

Fans overseas cannot seem to get enough of these guys.

Recent trips to the UK have gained the group even larger exposure, including plenty of airplay on the UK's largest and most influential music radio channel - Radio One.

But now fans will be able to see the band play in a rock arena setting.

Link: The Fray website

Labels: Best Indie 2007, Best Indie Artists, Peter Yorn, The Fray, The Fray Concerts, The Fray Show Dates, The Fray Tour Dates

The third annual Download Festival 2007 will offer fans indie rock favorites like The Shines, Wolf Parade, Modest Mouse, Icubus and more to be announced in coming weeks (get updates as they come in. More bands will be added on May 29).

The Download Festival, which Pitchfork calls "merely the little brother to the long-running, testosterone-fueled" UK Throwdown, will visit four U.S. cities beginning August 18 for four shows total that will end in October:


08-18 Boston, MA - Tweeter Center


08-25 George, WA - Gorge Amphitheatre


09-01 East Troy, WI - Alpine Valley Music Theatre


10-06 Mountain View, CA - Shoreline Amphitheatre


Stay tune for information about tickets by signing up for the IRC feed.

Labels: Download Festival, Indie Rock Concerts, Indie Rock Music Festivals, Modest Mouse, Music Festivals, The Shins, UK Throwdown, Wolf Parade