_{Jenny Risher photo.}

Just in case the news has evaded you so far, the original Alice Cooper group is reuniting to release a new studio album, "The Revenge of Alice Cooper," on July 25 via earMUSIC, the same people who have delivered a slew of studio and live Blue Oyster Cult releases.

There have been part reformations (without the late guitarist Glen Buxton), most notably for a scorching 2018 live release “Live From The Astroturf”, but this is the group’s first full album in 50 years.  Buxton will be present, via a guitar part tracked from a demo,

The first single from the album, "Black Mamba," is out now and features Robby Krieger of The Doors.  Click MORE to see the video.

Missing Link, Australia’s only tribute to Link Wray, is back for its fifth year and will fall on what would have been the occasion of the guitar great’s 96^th birthday, May 3.  The venue is Shotkickers, in the hip Melbourne neighborhood of Thornbury, and it’s a high volume multi-band line-up.

Heading proceedings are The Bluebottles, laying claim to being Australia's #1 instrumental surf group. All female Link Wray devotees The Wraylettes are on the bill and will be launching a new seven-inch.

Honk are bringing the rhythm 'n' roots with a set blending country music with a side serve of Spaghetti Western drinking songs.  

Completing the bill is the country’s longest-running Link Wray combo, Sydney’s The Missing Link Band, headed by ex-Deadly Hume guitar high priest Stephen Bones Martin.

The evening starts at 8.15pm and it’s $20 at the door.

It’s a recipe for Mayhem in Marrickville in Sydney on May 3: The night of the Australian Federal Election. Four rocking bands. Cheap drinks. Cheaper entertainment. Playing order to be decided by a draw on the night. All in a politician-free zone. 

"Mayhem in May" is presented by The I-94 Bar and features (in alphabetical order) The Jane Does, Jupiter 5, Moot and The Strike-Outs. Early-bird tickets are selling here. So here’s the rundown:

The Jane Does are two girls, two guys and a whole bunch of fun. Equal parts melodic pop and garage rock, they’ve been building a big base of fans in and around Sydney for a couple of years now and are threatening to release their first recordings. Jane Doe is a generic term for anonymity but their music is not.

In 2022, Los Angeles label Rum Bar Records released "All The Covers ( And More)", a sprawling, star-studded, two-CD compilation of every cover recorded by The Streetwalkin' Cheetahs over the course of their 25+ year career.

Three of Europe's best rock ‘n’ roll labels Heavy Medication, Ghost Highway and Take The City, are combining to give the collection the vinyl treatment.

This single disc, limited edition picks 17 tracks and packages them under the title "Best of All the Covers (and More)", featuring guest appearances by Sylvain Sylvain, Wayne Kramer, Cherie Currie, Jeff Dahl, Jimmy Zero, Bryan Small of The Hangmen, and others.  Starpower!

It also adds a previously unreleased cover of a GG Allin song, "Occupation", which was recorded after the original CD release.

Each label is offering a different color variant of outer sleeve artwork (pink, green or blue), with Heavy Med's edition a pink cover and pink vinyl. Street date is May 9. More info and a preview is here.

Here’s a test for the theory that old school underground bands can be re-tooled with new singers and still work: Dead Kennedys are returning to Australia and New Zealand this September for their first tour in seven years.

After a false start where the DKs were part of that clusterfuck Pandemonium fiasco only to be bumped off a pared-down bill, they are undertaking two shows in New Zealand and five in Australia.

The band is original members East Bay Ray (guitar) and Klaus Flouride (bass), alongside vocalist Ron “Skip” Greer, who has fronted the band since 2008, and drummer Steve Wilson, who joined following the passing of  D.H. Peligro in 2022.

Almost needless to say they won’t be bringing Jello (but we’ll make the point for all the dummies anyway). There’s also no new album in tow – just a set full of classic punk songs like “Holiday in Cambodia”, “California Über Alles” and “Kill the Poor”.

Dates and ticket links after the MORE button.  Let the arguments a la Sex Pistols and The Saints commence...

Two of the best underground record labels around, Poland’s Heavy Medication and Spanish imprint Ghost Highway Recordings, are bringing Handsome Dick Manitoba back to the vinyl racks next month.

“Back To Broadway” is an EP by the former singer of the Dictators on Heavy Medication and Ghost Highway. It has a May 9 street date and features four tunes on a seven-inch platter.

Originals “Back on Broadway" and "DeLuise Nation” are matched with a brace of recent HDM solo band live recordings: The Dictators' "Savage Beat" and "The Party Starts Now!", a classic from the great ‘Tators spin-off, Manitoba's Wild Kingdom.

You can hear the title track and pre-order the EP here and, yes, there is more than a passing resemblance to Dictators circa the “DFFD” album (which will be a relief if you heard The Handsome One's 2019 solo record, "Born In The Bronx"  which was well intentioned but missed the mark.) 

Manitoba and band - which includes Streetwalkin’ Cheetah Frank Meyer on guitar - has wrapped up a run of US Midwest dates and is heading to Scandinavia for more shows.