WYWA: Hot Milk, RIP David Johansen, Corey Taylor And Bad Omens, And More
Believe it or not, it’s now March. We’re still a little whiplashed from speedrunning through February. While we’re getting ourselves together, you can catch up with music news with this week’s While You Were Away. This time, we’re talking about Corey Taylor’s new collab with Bad Omens, remembering David Johansen, Hot Milk’s new album, and more.
Corey Taylor and Bad Omens team up for a cover of Kansas’ ‘Dust in the Wind’
Corey Taylor and Bad Omens have joined forces to cover Kansas’ “Dust in the Wind,” which appears on the soundtrack for the upcoming biopic Queen of the Ring.
Aaron Gilhuis produced, mixed, and mastered the track. The gentle acoustic guitar and Taylor and Bad Omens’ Noah Sebastian soaring vocals makes for a haunting rendition of the classic rock staple.
Listen to the song below.
A press release states, Queen of the Ring “brings to life the untold story of wrestling legend Mildred Burke, who shattered barriers in the 1930s–1950s to become the first million-dollar female athlete and headline arenas over male competitors in a time when women’s wrestling was outright banned across much of the US.”
The Queen of the Ring soundtrack arrives the same day as the movie, March 7th.
David Johansen, New York Dolls singer, dies at 75
David Johansen, best known for fronting punk pioneers New York Dolls, has died. He was 75 years old.
A statement from his publicist reveals Johansen died at home in New York City on Friday afternoon holding hands with his wife Mara Hennessey and daughter Leah, surrounded by music, flowers, and love. He was 75-years-old and died of natural causes after nearly a decade of illness.”
Johansen had been privately battling stage four cancer and a brain tumor for several years. He finally revealed his diagnosis last month after a fall broke his back in two places last November. Things took a turn for the worse, leading him to ask for financial help.
In 1971, Johansen joined New York Dolls as their frontman and appeared on their albums New York Dolls and Too Much Too Soon. Known for his flamboyant fashion and larger-than-life stage presence, he and the band left a major impact on the rising punk rock scene.
In the 1980s, Johansen would introduce his new persona named Buster Poindexter and scored a hit with his cover of Arrow’s “Hot Hot Hot.”
Revisit some of Johansen’s memorable performances below.
Hot Milk announce new album Corporation P.O.P
Hot Milk have announced their second album, Corporation P.O.P, out on June 27th via Music for Nations. The band also shared lead single “90 Seconds to Midnight.”
“The Doomsday Clock is nearing midnight and this frantic song sets the mood for the oncoming nuclear winter,” said singer/guitarist Han Mee. “We wanted to punch you proper in the face with this, this balls-to-the-wall little riffy boy comes bounding at you relentlessly.
“Lyrically we took inspiration from 17th century philosopher Rousseau and the poet John Betjemen with his poem Slough. Rousseau set out that humanity would never be free as we create our own shackles. In this case, we’ve created our own demise. Whereas Betjemen’s poem takes this notion of demise and laughs at it, inviting the nukes in ‘come friendly bombs’… Let’s set the gaff on fire and start again.”
Listen to it below.
Speaking about the album, Jim Shaw describes it as “an entry from the perspective of us lot who live a dichotomy of months in faraway lands and then experience the sudden grounding of returning home to Salford. It’s hard not to compare, contrast and try to understand.
“P.O.P = Payment of Pain. We all must live with the burden of modernity and this pain has been commodified; we all must pay. Corporation pop itself is a term Han’s [Mee, vocalist/guitarist] grandad used to refer to the water supply, something that runs throughout all our homes, just as current events run through us all.”
Pre-order Corporation P.O.P here.
Jonathan Rach brings ‘The Downward Spiral Exhibition’ to Los Angeles
Following the success of Jonathan Rach‘s Nine Inch Nails, The Downward Spiral Exhibition in New York, the photography exhibit will open in Los Angeles March 6th – 9th at 7615 Sunset Blvd.
The exhibition features Rach bringing his “Self Destruct Tour” photography to the U.S for the first time. The week-long event will feature public showings on March 6th, followed by a playback session of The Downward Spiral on March 7th, and a conversation with Rach on March 9th. All events are free admission.
“I knew night after night that Trent [Reznor] was doing something pretty special, and they would talk about this tour for years,” Rach told Rolling Stone. “The shows had a ferocious energy matched only by the crowd out front. To this day, the industry still talks about that tour and its impact.”
Find all the details here.
Tours on sale this week
Simple Plan have announced the “Bigger Than You Think!” tour with Bowling for Soup, 3OH!3, and LØLØ. The tour kicks off August 9th in Seattle, Washington, and runs through September 6th in Irving, Texas. See all the dates here.
Wu-Tang Clan will head out on their final tour, dubbed “Wu-Tang Forever: The Final Chamber,” this summer with Run the Jewels as a special guest. The 27-date tour starts on June 6th in Baltimore, Maryland, and wraps up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on July 18th. Tickets are on sale now.
Beartooth, I Prevail, Killswitch Engage, and Parkway Drive will headline the “Summer of Loud” North American tour. The Devil Wears Prada and The Amity Affliction will support all dates, while TX2, Kingdom of Giants, and Dark Divine will support select shows. The outing starts on June 21st in West Palm Beach, Florida, and concludes in Charlotte, North Carolina, on July 27th. See all the dates here.
Pixies will embark on a new US tour with Spoon along with Fazerdaze. The trek starts on August 27th in San Diego, California, and runs through September 19th in Atlanta, Georgia. Get all the details here.
