Bring Back the Plague

Originally formed by members of the Locust and known for wearing beef jerky masks onstage, heavy metal vegetarians Cattle Decapitation have a new pandemic themed music video for their song “Bring Back the Plague” featuring visual cues like toilet paper, hand sanitizers, face masks, boredom, video games, latex gloves, hand washing, and people fighting over retail goods. Says frontman Travis Ryan, “With the cancellation of our ironically titled Europandemic Tour and social distancing recommendations set in place, we found ourselves with not much to do. So we figured, why not address the elephant in the room in the form of a music video for ‘Bring Back the Plague’ and just film it on our mobile phones instead of with an actual crew? Dave [McGraw] didn’t even have access to a drum kit and nobody is leaving their houses anyways, so we decided to lighten the mood with a video.”

Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine says the band will soon get back to recording a new album, having taken a break after he was diagnosed with throat cancer. Currently cancer-free according to his most recent tests, Mustaine has shared a Quarantine Playlist via Spotify, described as “A collection of songs to help you get through this weird and uncertain time.” The playlist features some of Megadeth’s classic songs, along with tracks from Exodus, Suicidal Tendencies, Ozzy Osbourne, Angel Witch, Carcass, Accept, and more. Mustaine explains the project in a video clip posted on the band’s Facebook page. “Me, I’ve been staying indoors, I’m on Day 12 right now. I’ve been washing my hands a lot, and listening to a lot of Megadeth music, putting the final touches on a new book, and working on the new Megadeth album. Looking forward to doing our next tour, once this is all over.”

Last year, Blink 182 released their first new music in three years, beginning with a series of singles previewing their eighth studio full-length Nine (their first album on Columbia Records). “Blame It On My Youth” was produced by Tim Pagnotta, with a lyric video created by graffiti artist RISK, and “Generational Divide” came with a video directed by Kevin Kerslake. The trio followed up with singles for “Darkside,” “Happy Days,” and “I Really Wish I Hated You,” as well as a surprise holiday tune that dropped last December, “Not Another Christmas Song.” The band invited fans quarantined at home to contribute footage shot during the pandemic shutdown for their recently debuted “Happy Days” video. Vocalist-bassist Mark Hoppus also has a side band with All Time Low frontman Alex Gaskarth, Simple Creatures, who cite the Cure, the Descendents, and Bad Religion as central influences. The duo’s second EP Everything Opposite is streaming free online through April.

Acoustic pop star Jason Mraz may be one of the most successful recording artists to emerge from the same city that also birthed Blink 182, Adam Lambert, and Iron Butterfly. His major label debut release, Waiting for My Rocket to Come, was quickly certified platinum by the RIAA in 2004 and reached number two on Billboard’s Heatseekers chart. A followup, Mr. A-Z, entered the Billboard 200 album chart at number five, earning a Grammy nomination for “Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical,” while its producer, the prolific Steve Lillywhite, received a nomination for “Producer of the Year.” His single “I Won’t Give Up” was awarded 6X platinum status from the RIAA last year, in commemoration for having sold over 6,000,000 digital downloads. He’s even turned up on the Broadway stage, appearing in a production of Waitress, composed by his friend Sara Bareilles, playing lovelorn singing gynecologist Dr Pomatter. Mayor Kevin Faulconer even once declared an official Jason Mraz Day. The 2014 San Diego Music Award Artist of the Year has launched a new La La La Livestream concert series, assisted by his wife Christina Carano at their Oceanside avocado farm, with real-time broadcasts happening every Wednesday morning in April at 10am.

Melodic punk-influenced rockers the Rough formed in 2016. Drew Smith (Avenue Army) and Darren Sader (Bankers Hill) were originally accompanied by two other players (including Drew’s brother Mike), but they’re currently backed by two more Avenue Army members, bassist-singer Max Bergstrom and guitarist Vaughn Esparza. (Bergstrom founded the original incarnation of Avenue Army in Saint Paul, Minnesota before relocating to San Diego.) After releasing their debut self-titled EP in 2017, the Rough began landing a steady series of gigs at area venues such as the Merrow, Brick By Brick, Dirk’s Nightclub, Navajo Live, the Salty Frog, and Himmelberg’s. They just released a new single for “Stay,” taken from their sophomore EP Clean Cut, released via No Pants Records. A lyric video for their track “Satin Gloves” can be found on their YouTube channel, which also includes live performance clips taped at the Merrow in Hillcrest.