Radioactivity have announced their first of two albums on Dirtnap Records! Radioactivity is a continuation of The Novice, Jeff Burke's band while living in Japan. Jeff has since moved back to Texas, and out of respect to the Japanese lineup of the band, has changed the name to Radioactivity. Some of these songs are re-purposed Novice tracks, while others are brand new. Jeff is one of the most distinctive songwriters in the punk rock underground, and these songs will sound instantly familiar to any fans of The Marked Men or Potential Johns. Band members include Jeff Burke, Mark Ryan, and Gregory Rutherford, whose credits read like an all-star lineup of Texas punk and garage rock royalty, including members of The Marked Men, Mind Spiders, Bad Sports, Wax Museums, The Reds, VIDEO, and The Novice. Radioactivity's first, self-titled LP is due out on Dirtnap Records in October, and it will coincide with a Radioactivity 7" released on Germany's Alien Snatch! Records.The album will be promoted by an October/November European tour supported by Japan's Suspicious Beasts. Look for ANOTHER Radioactivity LP coming soon on Dirtnap!

Hailing from Denton, Texas, Bad Sports are a band whose music is a powerful fusion of punk rock velocity and attitude, hard rock guitar raunch, and power pop hooks. Influenced by old-school punk bands like the Ramones and the Buzzcocks as well as the '70s hard rock that's an unavoidable presence in their home town, Bad Sports feature Orville Neeley (also a member of OBN IIIs) on guitar and vocals, TV's Daniel Fried (who also plays in Wax Museums) on bass and vocals, and Gregory Rutherford (also doing double duty in Wax Museums) on drums. In 2008, the band began spreading the word about their music with a handful of 7" vinyl releases on Big Action Records and Boom Chick Records, and in the fall of 2009. the Atlanta-based Douchemaster label issued the band's self-titled debut album on CD, LP, and MP3 (it was also released on cassette by Burger Records). Plenty of touring followed, including a handful of dates with '70s power pop hero Paul Collins. In August 2011, Bad Sports teamed with Portland, Oregon's Dirtnap Records to release their second full-length album, Kings of the Weekend. - Mark Deming, All Music

When the Carbonas died, Atlanta wept. Mothers and children, left orphaned by the deceased, wandered the streets with tears streaming mottled faces. Strong and silent men struggled to maintain composure, and they retreated to basement workbenches, biting lips, cracking knuckles, running hands through thinning hair, sullenly wondering: "Why?" Skies darkened. A palpable feeling of devastating loss plagued the city. Nay, the world.

Thankfully, ex-frontman Greg "GG" King wasted little time in yanking up his knickers and pursuing new noise. He wrote a series of tunes not unlike those he contributed to the Carbonas – that winning mix of hyperstrummed '70s Europunk and brawny stateside r'n'r pummel intact – and amassed a crew of friends and former bandmates to help him flesh out the din. He released a handful of solid teaser singles, played a number of good shows. He reasserted himself as one of Atlanta's greatest exports.

And now, with the release of Esoteric Lore, his first full-length longplayer, the venerable GG King moves beyond his old guard, skindiving in new sinkholes.

Yes, herein we find some highly Carbonic moments – traces of Hubble Bubble, The Kids, Zero Boys, et. al. – but we also hear the King & Co. vamp on vibes harnessed only previously by goth-punk forebears: early Christian Death, 45 Grave. We sense smudged traces of minimal mania a la 100 Flowers. We catch whiffs of the emblematic hardcore of the Germs & T.S.O.L., feel the plod 'n' thud of Negative Trend. We're treated to bits of hijacked shortwave, aural static clinging 'tween songs proper, bleeding into the tunes themselves. And we hear a walloping wayward punk rec that nods knowingly toward L.A.-circa-'82, but in melding its influences, somehow sounds distinctly Atlanta, and right now.

You would think that because only about 60 miles separate the cities of Athens and Atlanta, Georgia that maybe the same sphere of influence would affect both. In the past decade, Atlanta has seen the growth of a creatively sustainable music scene, and we sort of forgot about our neighbors up the road. There is no shortage of great bars, restaurants and clubs in Athens, but it's been a little while since an Athens band made me want to jump in my car and make the trip. Vincas have given me that much needed excuse. Blood Bleeds is a monster of a record. They are playing dark and heavy songs that at once will draw Birthday Party and Gun Club comparisons. I'd bet they have some later Scientists records in their collections too as there is a discernible element of swampishness weaving itself throughout the record. It's sexy in a super-bitter dark chocolate kind of way and has a pounding cohesiveness throughout. Vincas demonstrate total control from start to finish, and it's pretty clear that they didn't just stumble onto a style of music like this. We truly hope the folks over in Athens realize what they've got on their hands.