To coincide with the 25th anniversary of their landmark 2001 album
Take Off Your Pants and Jacket, blink-182 teamed up with Bandai Namco Entertainment on a full collection of exclusive collectible merchandise that debuted at Comic-Con. The collection includes a limited-edition, numbered blink-182 & PAC-MAN Comic-Con vinyl produced by Blood Records, as well as a band-branded version of the PAC-MAN & 7-Eleven T-shirt worn by Mark Hoppus at Coachella 2023. More limited-edition blink-182 & PAC-MAN gear and merchandise is planned for later this year.
One of the band's bassists, Dave Nestor, passed away. He also worked on albums for Sprung Monkey, Buck-0-Nine, Unwritten Law, The Nephews, and others.
The new band featuring singer Matt Rhea from Manganista, Kelly Wells (guitar), Vipul Joshi (drums), and Josh Valle (bass) recently dropped their debut single “Apathy.” Drawing from power pop, new wave, and post-punk, the band crafts melodic guitar songs that find humor, humanity, and memorable hooks in uncomfortable truths. The group writes, records, mixes, and masters every release independently at Central Processing Unit, Kelly Wells’ home studio.
The founding member of Whiskey Tango, The Hideaways, and Tornado Magnet recently released a new single called “Smuggling Contraband,” set along the lonely lost highways stretching from the Pacific coast through San Diego County, Tecate, and the Imperial Valley. "Having grown up and spent my life along the Southern California border region," he says, "I've watched this landscape evolve for decades. 'Smuggling Contraband' is a snapshot of a place, a culture, and a stretch of highway filled with stories that most people never see. It's part folklore, part reality, and entirely rooted in the desert Southwest."
Wavves' collaborative album with emo stalwarts Say Anything,
Cherry Soda, is due September 18 via I Surrender Records, preceded so far by lead single, “Deathx1k,” and its accompanying music video directed by Stephen Coad. The album, produced by Aaron Rubin (Blink 182), features ten new songs, co-written by Max Bemis and Wavves frontman Nathan Williams. Speaking on the origins of his partnership with Bemis, Williams recalls that “He was Wavves adjacent. He’d been on tour with our drummer (Ross Traver) and our friend Justice Tripp (Angel Du$t). I’m a very curious person creatively, and somehow, Max told me he was a fan. After really digging into his catalog, I was kind of in shock. His records are really interesting. I wanted to see what an early 2000s Wavves emo record would sound like. That was the idea. To make a mall emo record.”
LaMonaca released a new single for his track "The Way," in advance of a new EP,
Montana Snow, his first new release in over a decade. The EP was recorded in Nashville with longtime friends producer Ben Simonetti and brothers Brandon and James Conway. He calls the sound Western Indie Country Club. The songs are rooted in heartfelt storytelling and emotional honesty, delivered through cinematic Western Americana by a voice that sticks with you, made for windows-down road trips into the golden fading light. A single for "Green Flash" is due in August.
Mendoza landed four songs in the new movie
Water Park Shark, released on Amazon Prime over the fourth of July weekend and officially premiering at Shark Con in Florida on July 18. Two songs are recordings by The Shambles ("I Can't Don't Want To" and "Brilliant") and two are by True Stories ("Can't Seem to Make You Mine" and "Comet's Tomorrow"). According to Mendoza, "I watched it with Donna tonight and it's a fun film. It's directed by Anthony C. Ferrante of Sharknado fame, I had previously played a big Comic-Con panel in 2023 where Manual Scan backed him performing the
Sharknado theme."
An upcoming album called
Dude Cervantes and the Panchos is due October 2 via Blind Owl records, preceded by a single for “Billion Dollar Art” that's driven by soaring twin guitars, expansive psychedelia, and classic rock swagger. According to frontman Daniel "Dude" Cervantes, “‘Billion Dollar Art’ was one of two originals we debuted on our first Southern California tour in 2023. The middle solo belongs to Dylan Donovan, who absolutely shreds it. We both come from the school of Jimmy Page and Jimi Hendrix when it comes to classic rock solos, but the ending jam is pure Panchos at its embryonic genesis—fountaining psychedelic fluorescents from our guitars in a room with no walls while the paint peels off the universe.”
The bluesy jazz singer has a new music video for "Daughters of the Rising Tide," the title track and lead single from her upcoming album due in August. Sanders describes the song as an anthem about women's empowerment, survival, and standing in one's true purpose. Featuring guest Allison Russell, the track was co-written and produced by JT Nero of Birds of Chicago, while the video was directed and produced by Cathryn Beeks. The 8-song
Daughters of the Rising Tide album was recorded in Nashville, Tennessee, at Steve Dawson's Juno award-winning Hen House Studio.
The award-winning California-based Hawaiian band has a new single for “Mai Tais in Paradise,” which precedes their upcoming album
The Ohana Sessions, due August 7. "While we’ve built our sound around a rotating cast of incredible guest musicians, our new album highlights the core of the band - the literal ohana," says Brian Witkin, who had a hand in writing all ten original songs and produced the album with Chris Hobson and Reba and Jim Marabotto. "It’s the first time we’ve made a full studio record centered entirely on the trio, and that was very intentional. There’s a unique energy when it’s just the three of us, and it brings out a different emotional depth in both the performances and the songs themselves. We also continue to stay true to our recording philosophy: tracking together in real time, using vintage and analog gear, and avoiding samples, extreme effects, or shortcuts. That human element has always been essential to our sound.” Slack Key ‘Ohana’s previous full-length, 2024’s
Hawaiian Cowboy, was the band’s second album to debut at number one on the iTunes World Music chart.
He has a new single called “Battlefield Of Love”
The Wacken Metal Battle USA 2026 National Final brought together the top six bands from across the country after months of battles in cities nationwide. Local metal band won the contest on June 13 at Brick By Brick, earning a slot at Wacken Open Air, one of the world’s most iconic and influential metal festivals, and will advance to the international Wacken Metal Battle, where rising bands from across the globe unleash their headbanging, mosh‑ready power before metalheads gathered from every corner of the world. Industry judges at the San Diego competition included Rod Kukla (Silver Lining Music), Martin Koller (Prophecy Productions / SPKR Media), and Kelly McLauchlin (Pessimist). "My fourth time judging the USA final," says Kukla, "and I can honestly say the quality of the finalists was the best ever. Good luck to the winner, Gannondorf, in their final metal battle at the legendary Wacken Open Air."
Their sophomore album
Thank God It's Almost Monday is due September 9, preceded so far by singles for “skinny dip” and “no more regrets.” According to the band, "We made this during the best and worst year of our lives. It’s the result of an honest life lived; the highs, the lows, the pain, and the joys are all there on this record." A new single and video for “delicate” tells a story with lyrics like “Take a drink, pretend that I’m relevant / Try to love it but I hate it / And I just, and I just can’t fake it I’m, delicate.” According to the band, “In a lot of ways, the song is an elevator pitch for a short story,” the band shares. “We’ve always been so inspired by filmmakers and world builders. So ‘delicate’ is a tongue-in-cheek, wink-at-the-camera-esque journey of a guy who wakes up feeling overly confident, only to discover just how fragile his ego truly is.”
