I'm the lucky one, I'm getting out of here



I'm kind of bummed out about the new Less Than Jake album. I don't want to be another cranky third-wave ska fan crying "where are the horns", but geeze guys, where are the horns? Only on four tracks? What did your poor horn players do during the rest of the recording? Knit?



Now, I wouldn't mind if the horn-free songs were as solid as they were on their last album. Even though Anthem took a pretty big step towards pop-punk, I really enjoyed it. Songs like "Screws Fall Out" and "Escape From the A-Bomb House" embraced a more straight-ahead rock sound, but they still had a unique edge to them. They didn't all sound the same. And they didn't dominate the entire album!



But on the new album, the rock songs aren't much more than a grab bag of mall-punk cliches. And the ska songs -- the only songs that aren't painful to listen to this time around -- are relegated to less than a third of the disc. Add in a bad case of "the singles" -- that horrible disease where one or two painfully poppy radio-friendly songs are jammed into the tracklist and stick out like sore thumbs -- and you've got a pretty disappointing record. Bummer!



Sam Logan

News and tributes



Congratulations to Monica Freedle, the lucky pre-orderer who will be recieving the original cover artwork for the new book. And a huge thank you to everyone who has pre-ordered thus far. You have put a massive dent in the immediately upcoming printing bill, and I sincerely appreciate it.



Platinum Grit is a wonderful comic that you can read right here, on the internet. I believe it originally began as a print publication in Australia, but they've done a pretty good job of transplanting it onto a webpage. Don't let the browser plugin requirement deter you from checking it out. The story is a sort of romance/sci-fi epic mixed with Python-esque absurdity. And the artwork is a gorgeous. (Kind of like a rounder, less angular take on Jamie Hewlett.)



Sam Logan

Into a featureless face, they carve a smile



I will announce the winner of the cover-art contest on Monday! If you would like to have a chance at the big prize yourself, please make sure you pre-order your book before Saturday. Rock? Rock!



I have heard back from everyone who ordered the t-shirt two-pack. All the orders are straightened out now. Thanks guys!



I have put together a little graphic showing how Dayfree and all the other webcomic folks are going to be situated at this year's Comic Con. You can view it here if you are curious. It is seriously nerd central.



Sam Logan