originally published January 16, 2008

Welcome back to another week of news here at ye olde music news desk. I thought about just scrapping this column and standing at the corner of College Avenue and Clayton Street and yelling it all out town crier-style, but then figured it'd be better to stick with the Gutenberg way. I mean, seriously, downtown has enough criers as it is. So, with that, let's dig in…

No Foolin'?: Accelerate, the upcoming album from R.E.M., hits stores on Apr. 1. In other news, the release of the upcoming album Funplex, the first studio album from The B-52's in more than a decade and a half, has been pushed back a month, and should now drop on Mar. 25. And hey, anyone who'll be in Austin this March for South By Southwest: R.E.M. is playing.

So Easy It Hurts: Postage rates got you down? Don't know where the post office is? Well, never fear, bands. This year's AthFest has made it super-easy for you to submit your material for consideration without ever leaving your house. Now, both in-state and out-of-state bands can submit their demos and press packages via online electronic press kit company Sonic Bids. The submission to AthFest cost is $10 for out-of-state bands and a mere $5 for in-state folks. AthFest promises that at least one in-state band and one out-of-state band who submit through Sonic Bids will get a slot on the festival's outdoor stage. The deadline for early submission via this method is Mar. 1, so check out www.sonicbids.com/athfest and get on it.

'Round The Mic: The Packway Handle Band, Athens No. 1 bluegrass band, is all set for another album release! This'll be the local quintet's third release, and it's simply called Packway Handle Band. Swing by the Georgia Theatre on Friday, Jan. 18, where you can hear the album back-to-front at 8:15 p.m., followed by performances from Trampled By Turtles, Packway and then headliner Mountain Heart. Tickets cost $10 in advance or $12 at the door.

Live Like A Volcano: Local keyboard/ drums duo Olympus Mans will release its new recording Shelf Life on Friday, Jan. 18 when the band plays at Little Kings. The show is free and the band threatens that there may be a "dancing act." No, I don't know, so don't ask me. Recorded at Japanski Studios here in Athens, the songs I've heard off Shelf Life shift between slightly maudlin '70s soft-rock and a fascination with Todd Rundgren. Sure, that may be two sides of the same coin, but, whatever it is, it's certainly not to be confused with any of that "yacht rock" shit. I look forward to hearing the whole thing. Sample for yourself over at www.myspace.com/olympusmans.

That Time of Year: Athens seems to be in a giving mood, and a handful of upcoming shows aim to raise money and awareness for a variety of causes. The Friday, Jan. 18 show at the 40 Watt Club features Florida punk act Against Me! alongside local band Guff. Tickets are $12 and available at SchoolKids Records, and money goes towards the Harvest of Hope Foundation for migrant issues. That next night also at the Watt - Saturday, Jan. 19 - you've got locals The Winter Sounds, Kilroy, Misfortune 500 and Mass Solo Revolt playing "Rock for Paws" to benefit Athens Canine Rescue. Info on both causes is available at www.harvestofhope.net and www.athenscaninerescue.com, respectively.

Get Wired: The Athens/ Nashville pop darlings in The Lolligags have begun work on their newest batch of recordings here in town. Working with engineer Jason Nesmith, they plan on another EP release for 2008. Leslie Dallion and Ryan Breegle released their debut EP last year. See The Calendar! for more info. The band will perform at the Go Bar on Saturday, Jan. 19 along with Andy From Denver. Andy From Denver (AKA Andy Gonzales of the now-disbanded M Coast) made his impressive solo debut last month. For more information, please see www.myspace.com/thelolligags and www.myspace.com/andyfromdenvermusic.

Big Whig Party: The guys in local band The Whigs continue to work their asses off, and it looks like 2008 will see them running around constantly for, like, the third year in a row. The band's newest album, courtesy of ATO Records, will see release on Tuesday, Jan. 22 and fans can preorder it right now over at www.insound.com on CD or vinyl LP. The LP comes with a CD copy of the album, too, and all preorders receive a free bonus 7". Mission Control has already garnered drooling press mentions in nearly all forms of major media and the band will perform its new single "Right Hand On My Heart" on "The Late Show With David Letterman" on Monday, Jan. 28. The video for that same song was shot a little more than a week ago here in town, where I observed the happenings from a safe distance. No word yet on when fans can catch it, but, y'know, I'll let you know. The Whigs play their official Athens record release show on Saturday, Jan. 26 at the 40 Watt with The Ginger Envelope and Dream Girls.

Now, To The Left Coast: Self-rising local band Long Legged Woman is on extended hiatus as three-quarters of the band have moved to San Francisco, CA, where they will be joined by guitarist Gabe Vodicka after he graduates from UGA in May. However, the guys are not even close to breaking up as they've just finished their newest recording with engineer Joel Hatstat (Pegasuses-XL). They could, however, work a little harder when coming up with album titles. Tentatively the name for the new record is Nobody Knows This Is Nowhere (a fairly mediocre play on Neil Young) but a planned retrospective double-CD titled Old Adventures In Lo-Fi is really hurting. Come on, guys, I know you wanna be all up in San Francisco being full-time hippies and shit, but you still have to work at this stuff. Still, I'll miss you and hopefully you will indeed come back and visit around September or October as you've promised. For more info and music, please see www.myspace.com/longleggedwoman.

And They're Also Building A Temple In Heaven: Local indie Christian rock band Scarlet Snow has been nominated for three Momentum Awards by Indieheaven.com which is a primary supporter of independent Christian artists. The band is nominated for Song Of The Year, Rock Band Of The Year and vocalist Suzanne Cowan has received a nomination for Female Vocalist Of The Year. The winners will be announced at the annual IndieHeaven CIA (Christian Independent Alliance) Summit on Mar. 29 in Franklin, TN. The band's most recent recording, Inclined, was released last year. Scarlet Snow will also perform at this year's conference. For more information, please see www.indieheaven.com, www.ciasummit.com and www.scarletsnow.com.

Backing And Forthing: The new year has brought a personnel change for local hard rock act The Dumps. Exiting the band is Daniel Ray (ex-Exit 86, Let's Surf!) and joining is Patrick Ware (Killer Rock From Space). There's no drama in the change-up; Ray just wants to do different things. In his stead, Ware will take over most of his guitar duties, with fellow guitarist Andy Hollingsworth taking the majority of lead vocals. You can catch The Dumps opening for Jucifer at the Georgia Theatre on Wednesday, Feb. 6.

And that's the news, as it happened, for this week. Be sure to keep your news coming in and always mention either Threats & Promises or my name in the subject line of all emails. You keep me hanging on via email to music@flagpole.com, voicemail at 706-549-9523, ext. 203, or by post at P.O. Box 1027, Athens, GA 30603.

Gordon Lamb