Weezer‘s last Weeze

With Weezer having wrapped up promo and tour duties for their 2005 album Make Believe - and frontman Rivers Cuomo set to return to Harvard University next month (with plans to finish his English degree this June - after an eight-year break from college) - Weezer the band is set to finally take a break. But don’t dismay, Weezer fans - the band is going to have a Weezer DVD released in their temporary absence. The disc, with footage filmed by over half a dozen cameras last month during the band’s Japanese tour dates, will feature plenty of both concert and behind-the-scenes clips, although a title and release date have yet to be announced. The band won’t be completely idle, though - they do plan on continuing to write music, and may even let the tour bug re-bite them every once in a while during Cuomo’s college breaks...

The need for a little downtime seems to be going around, as Green Day are also planning to chill after a busy year that saw their American Idiot album become absolutely huge; the band gross a whopping $36 million from playing 76 live shows, and the trio snag plenty of awards at both the MTV and Billboard events. Finally taking some time off of the tour bus, the band will be discussing the direction that their next album will take, but probably, according to frontman Billie Joe Armstrong, won’t do much about it for several months so they can clear their minds a little. “We’ll start with silence,” he was quoted as saying, “and that’s how we’ll be able to find the inspiration to find another record.” The band’s tour ranked in the top ten of Billboard Magazine’s roster of 2005’s top concert events...

Bloc Party, however, are prepping to get even busier - they’re scheduled to return to the studio this month to begin work on their next album, which will be their sophomore effort. The band are planning to make a more “considered” effort on the new album than on their first disc, Silent Alarm, funneling the things that they’ve seen and heard in their first “real” year as a signed band into their new songs. Tracks so far set for inclusion on the new disc include “Into the Blue,” “Kids,” and “The Present”...

Hot alt-rock band Fall Out Boy are making plans, too, to hit the road for their first headlining tour this year, which they’ve dubbed the “Black Clouds and Underdogs Tour.” The band, on tour to promote their new album, From Under the Cork Tree, will be on the road from mid-March to mid-May, for starters, and will make stops in Grand Rapids, MI (3/21), Detroit (4/20), and Charlotte, North Carolina (5/2), among other cities. More dates are expected to be added, and the tour will also feature appearances from supporting acts All-American Rejects, Hawthorne Heights, and From First to Last. In addition, Fall Out Boy will hit the stage at this year’s Bamboozle Festival in New Jersey in May, a two-day event that will also feature sets from the likes of Taking Back Sunday, Say Anything, and Thursday...


MINI BUZZ:
Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins is ready to release his first solo album - look for Taylor Hawkins and the Coattail Riders (ha) and their new self-titled disc on March 7, when it will hit stores...
Brit-rock modern legend Ian Brown has already completed five songs for a new album, which will be the follow-up to his 2005 best-of compilation CD - the new album will feature all-new Ian Brown tunes plus some orchestration that may include trumpets and violins, and could be out as early as this summer...
BRMC, otherwise known as Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, have announced that they’ll be embarking on a 33-date North American tour in support of their newest album, Howl - the band’s tour will include stops in Minneapolis (2/7), Chicago (2/8), Philadelphia (2/19), and Houston, Texas (3/6)...
Pink may have been temporarily off the music biz radar for a while, but that doesn’t mean that she hasn’t been busy behind the scenes - she’ll be back this month with a new single, and a full album is expected to follow this spring...
Justin Timberlake has finished recording over a dozen songs, and will soon settle on a final track list for a new album of his own, expected to be out by this summer - he worked with producers Rick Rubin, Timbaland, and the Black Eyed Peas’ Will.I.Am on the disc...
And fans can look for a new album this year from Sonic Youth, too - they’ve already recorded tunes “Or,” “Do You Believe in Rapture?,” and “Pink Steam,” with more on the way...

NEW ON CD: Morningwood’s Morningwood... We Are Scientist’s With Love and Squalor... The soundtrack for videogame Kingdom Hearts V.2... The Legend of Zorro: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack... The Decemberists’ Enhanced Single for 16 Military Wives... and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah’s eponymous collection... ON DVD: Franz Ferdinand Live... Ricky Nelson Sings... Duran Duran’s Live from London... and Live 8 head, Nobel Prize nominee, and Boomtown Rats singer Bob Geldof’s Geldof in Africa... and that’s the buzz for this week’s Modern Rock...

Questions, comments, rants, raves, suggestions on this column or your fave
artists? Send ’em to Kristi at modernrocker@gmail.com!


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