News: Morning Glory announce solid release date for their first proper full-length, track listing, and tour dates

It's been a long road for fans of Ezra Kire's (guitarist for Leftover Crack) side-project-turned-main-focus Morning Glory. The band's last release was an EP in 2003, and since then fans have had nothing but rough demos and promises of a real full length to go on. Mostly due to Kire's long battle with heroin addiction, the group never could get their feet on the ground proper.

Now, however, Kire has kicked the drugs and is putting his full effort into re-birthing what I've called "The Future of Crack Rock Steady", the sort-of genre that M-Glory and other associated bands created. Granted, several tentative release dates for Poets Were My Heroes (their first full-length as an actual band) have been announced and subsequently passed by, but we might have finally gotten a real one this time. With Fat Wreck Chords at their back, the band has slated the album for an August 28th release.

On top of that they'll be hitting the road all summer long. While they've promised a tour of the west coast of America in September, and the United Kingdom and Europe in October, the midwest states have dates to anticipate right now. Hit the jump for all currently booked shows, as well as a tracklisting for the album (which includes an old favorite). Oh, and the first song from Poets, if you haven't heard it yet.

Insufficient Funds: Agents of Change - The Buzzkill Mixtape

Insufficient Funds is a recurring post in which we feature a free, or very close to it, piece of media that you can enjoy without over drafting your bank account. So if you're low on funds, stay tuned to Cerebral Pop.
Chicago-based hip hop band Agents of Change are out to destroy everything for you by being the biggest buzzkills possible. Alright, really they just want to educate people and talk about awful things happening every day in our society in order to get others talking and thinking and put it into the collective conscious a little bit more.

I'm gonna show my lack of knowledge with this Insufficient Funds because I don't listen to very much rap or hip hop. What does the term 'mixtape' mean in hip hop culture? Is it always the artist rapping over other artist's beats? Does it always consist of not only studio-recorded songs, but live recordings, and plenty of collaborations? Are mixtapes always free?

Well, no matter what the "norm" is, The Buzzkill Mixtape from Agents of Change has/is all of these things. It's also pretty damn good.

Shuffled Podcast #8: That Crack Rock Steady Beat

Every other Wednesday I share my love of music in an assortment of ways. Shuffled is a podcast whose format is as varied as my tastes in music, so hopefully you won't ever be bored and everyone can find something to enjoy.
On this episode of Shuffled Luis Alvarez once again joins me. This time we discuss a group of bands...or, a genre, or as Luis puts it, an idea; Crack Rock Steady. Starting with Choking Victim, this unique brand of punk as created countless spin-off acts and inspired plenty of copycats. If you're a fan of the genre maybe you'll learn something new, but if you have no idea it existed, well, strap yourself in. We talk about nearly everything tangentially related to these bands, and you'll hear music samples following along behind it all. Hopefully by the end you'll be just as big a fan as Luis and I are.