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Orange County hardcore/metal hybrid Bleeding Through just posted a new song titled "Goodbye to Death," a track from the band's latest, The Great Fire, slated for a Jan. 31 release.

As you might expect, the song is heavy.

Recently, I interviewed Bleeding Through guitarist Dave Nassie and asked him specifically about this song, which I assumed was a reference to Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey (sure, Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure is a classic, but in my humble opinion, Bogus Journey is one of the greatest and most underrated sequels in film history). I won't give away Nassie's answer, but I will say this: Sadly, it's not about that hilarious scene in which Bill S. Preston, Esq., and Ted "Theodore" Logan play the Grim Reaper in Battleship, Clue, electronic football and Twister.

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Chris Victorio/OC Weekly

Just one of the many beautiful people in the audience Tuesday

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Todd Barnes/OC Weekly

Jonathan Russell, right, was replaced by the former Modest Mouse guitarist Dann Gallucci

​Late last year, we found out that Cold War Kids' guitarist Jonathan Russell was quitting. Our source told us not to break the news; there were tours and albums to be released. Not wanting to burn our source, we waited to see what happened--and today, the LA Times reports that former Modest Mouse guitarist Dann Gallucci will take his place.

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Christopher Victorio/OC Weekly

The Gromble were going to play, but didn't

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Nothing foretells the end of an event like a dozen cop cars lining up the street.

That's what happened Friday night to the first Culture Carnival, a celebration of local artists with musical selections from bands like The Spell, JUPILAR, The Gromble and Midnight Hour inside a nondescript warehouse in Santa Ana.

More than 300 people were expected to attend when just before the 7 p.m. start date, Santa Ana Police shut down the event. About a dozen officers lined up across the street from the warehouse with batons on hand.

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www.facebook.com/pages/Dennis-Robicheau-and-The-Sophisticates

Dennis Robicheau and the Sophisticates

​Long Beach native Dennis Robicheau's sound is, for a lack of a better word, something I'd describe as bluesy groovelica (groove based, psychedelic music + some electronica in there). We're pretty excited for Robicheau's second EP, I Just Don't Know, to come out in March. In the meantime we've asked him which acts have influenced him the most. The countdown after the jump.
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Mary Bell/OC Weekly

​Young The Giant wins the prize for the breakout band of Orange County in 2011. Turn on an alt-rock station, google the word "young," and ask Morrissey who his favorite new band is and you'll have your answer--2011 belonged to Young the Giant. "Cough Syrup" was probably only second to Foster the People's "Pumped Up Kicks" in over-played catchiness by new talent. It had grown men and women walking around, happily singing under their breath about life being to short to care about anything and drinking cough syrup.  They played the MTV VMAs, Jimmy Kimmel Live, Billboard's SXSW party and Sasquatch! music festival in Washington in 2011, all riding the enormous waves of their first full-length release.More >>

​Full disclosure: I've known Lauren Boquette of Lords of Ruin for approximately seven years and I consider him a friend. But the first time we met, I wasn't so sure we'd have much in common. Allow me to explain.

Without ever meeting him, I hopped in a van with Boquette, my friend Gabe, someone who I think played in Dread Zeppelin and the only man who knew everyone in the vehicle, the one, the only, Alfunction.

I'm an introvert who doesn't do well with people (but I'm amazing with animals). I'm also a pipsqueak and a nerd, so you can imagine my trepidation when I first saw Boquette. Dude is at least 6'3'' and one of his arms is as wide as my entire body. Add a bunch of visible tattoos into the mix and I was certain he figured I was a total lame ass not worth talking to.

Keep in mind, I am a total lame ass not worth talking to, but by the time we hit Baker, Boquette was not only keeping the van in good spirits, he was actually engaging me in conversation. Turned out, my fear was nothing but my often-irrational belief that no one will like me because about 14 hours after we left Orange County, our party ended up at downtown Las Vegas' Glitter Gulch, where Boquette got us in for free and all of our drinks comped. Later that night, someone who wasn't me puked outside a car while it was moving. I'm not saying who, but he knows who he is.


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Ryan Ritchie

​The Spell, Mr. Elevator & The Brain Hotel and Ambush Freqs
Blue Cafe
Dec. 31, 2011

You know you went to a good show when you're 100 percent sober on New Year's Eve, your date flakes on you a few hours before leaving, no girls even come close to kissing you at midnight and you still have a really great time. That's exactly what happened to me Saturday at the Blue Cafe, which made me the happiest sober dude in all of Long Beach.

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Mary Bell/OC Weekly

Delta Spirit at BuskerFest in Long Beach in 2010

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South By Southwest revealed a whole slew of new acts confirmed to play at official showcases during the annual music and film conference in Austin. This is the third list of musicians to be released. The venues and dates they will be playing at have not yet been announced, but they will play sometime between March 13 and 18. Notable acts include Delta Spirit, Stars, Blitzen Trapper, Built to Spill and Metric.

Countless rising bands have attributed a large part of their success to playing at the massive city-wide music conference held each spring. See the entire list as well as which three local bands have been added below. 
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​The Lovely Bad Things are featured in this week's print edition in our Local's Only column. You can read the article here, but to catch you up to speed: the quartet based out of La Mirada are known for their rowdy shows and infectious surf pop sounds. They will release a 45 via Volcom Records early in 2012 and will ride in the Burger Records caravan to SXSW in Austin come March.  More >>