Jesse Lacey of Brand New recently spoke to Alter the Press. In a revealing interview, he talks about his experience with the major label that released 2006's The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me:

I've never made money off a record sale. I made money on a record advance that has to do with the industry, a companies investment in me but I've never seen a return. For a band like us and Kevin to keep doing what we're doing is by doing shows. Why charge a kid for a record?

Give him an option maybe. If he wanted to buy it at your show for $5-10 and getting the packaging or wanting to buy it in a store but if quality of a music reaches a point online where it sounds as good as anywhere else, I mean I don't like paying for records either. When it gets down to it, most of the time I don't. As long as kids keep coming to the show, buying a ticket and wanting to experience the music with me in a setting like this then they can have it for free.

Check out the rest of the interview (which also features Kevin Devine), right here.

John "Porcell" Porcelly of Youth of Today, Judge, Bold, Shelter and more, has launched a new straight edge clothing line appropriately titled True Till Death. The company explains it's manifesto:

Straight edge. It's a choice. A conscious decision not to let chemicals or popular opinion be your ruler. In a world where being "cool" means intoxication and excess, it's a stance against.

Let them call it a trend. We know it's more. It's a common sense lifestyle that frees the boy from toxic control and releases the mind from clouded thoughts and dependency.

The X. It's more than fashion, It's a statement. Wear it proudly.

You can check out some of the company's gear here.

It might be a little odd, but legendary punk band, Bad Religion is selling a single shoe. Of course, the shoe is an exclusive, hand-painted Vans slip on, and the purpose is to raise money for the Keep A Breast charity. The shoe is actually part of a larger auction which features unique memorabilia from The Matches, All Time Low, New Found Glory, the Briggs, The Bronx and countless more.

Check out the whole auction here.

Black Fag, the "absolutely fabulous" tribute to Black Flag, has announced a tour of California in December. The "I Caught Henry Kissing Santa Claus" tour will see the parody act play a number of weekend shows in the state, including a gig at 924 Gilman. Click below for the dates.

Black Fag features the alter ego of Jeff Penalty, the punk filmmaker known for documentaries on the Bouncing Souls, Youth Brigade and most recently NOFX's "Backstage Passport." Penalty also controversially served as one of the recent vocalists of the Dead Kennedys.

Glassjaw have posted the first track from their long-awaited new album. The song is titled "You Think You're John Fucking Lennon" and will appear on the new record. Guitarist and songwriter Justin Beck has promised the record soon, but has remained elusive about the contents and other details of the record.

You can find the song on glassjaw.net.

Pennywise have announced their first two shows of 2009. The first one will be at the infamous "Hollywood Palladium" in Los Angeles. The second show will be at the House of Blues in Las Vegas. No word on whether these dates will form part of a longer tour just yet.

You can click Read More for the dates.

Copeland have posted a cover of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." The track was originally performed by Judy Garland but later popularized by Frank Sinatra. In 2007, ASCAP ranked "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" the third most performed Christmas song of the past five years.

You can check it out on their myspace page.

Despised Icon have announced the bulk of the dates for their forthcoming "Montreal Assault Tour" set to kick off in early 2009. The bill will feature support from Beneath The Massacre, Carnifex, Neuraxis and The Plasmarifle.

You can click Read More for the dates.

Some of the new releases out this week.

• Various - Vans Warped Tour 2007 [DVD]
• Panic! At the Disco - Live in Chicago
• Medusa - En Raga Sul

You can find the full list of releases this week (and album covers) right here

Hello everybody and welcome to Navel Gazing: your look back at the week in Punknews. I'm Adam White and I'll be your guide through some of the most popular, notable, and otherwise attention getting stories of the past seven days. Each and every Punknews story is built from tips contributed by you fine folks, and here's what got the strange, slow, old people in the community talking...

While the music pie is smaller than it once was, digital sales have become an increasingly significant slice. Major imprint Atlantic Records annoucned this past week that digital sales have surpassed the physical on their balance sheets, which is a first for a big label. Against Me! frontman Tom Gabel recently reunited with the band's original drummer Kevin Mahon for an acoustic performance in New York City. The Bouncing Souls posted an update from the studio where they're working on their new 12 song digital project. Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong spoke out on that band's forthcoming album as well. The 2009 Bamboozle festival is starting to come together. We first heard that No Doubt and Fall Out Boy would headline, then saw the lineup expanded to include the Get Up Kids, New Found Glory and Face To Face.

The UK can soon expect a visit from the Gaslight Anthem, Frank Turner and Polar Bear Club. Off With Their Heads is headed out on the road in the US. The Dropkick Murphys confirmed their St.Patrick's Day shows as well. Coheed and Cambria are planning to tour with Slipknot. NOFX and Smoke Or Fire are set to hit the streets as well. Millencolin has been nominated for a Swedish Grammy, while D.O.A.'s Joe Shithead Keithley is in the running for "Most Influential Person In BC History." This week saw a full concert stream from the New Pornographers, a video from I Set My Friends on Fire, and a trailer for the upcoming Warped Tour documentary. This week we teamed up with our good friends in the Gaslight Anthem for a charity auction. Head over to eBay to win a rare signed vinyl test-pressing of the band's debut LP Sink Or Swim. All proceeds are going to benefit The Syrentha Savio Endowment, a charity which provides financial assistance to underprivileged women who cannot afford the expense of fighting breast cancer. As always we brought you new Streaming Music including Virginia-based trio The Two Funerals.

So what's coming up this week? Look for a live release from Panic! At the Disco, and the Vans Warped Tour 2007 DVD with tours kicking off from Social Distortion's Mike Ness (California), Lagwagon (Japan), Taking Back Sunday / Envy On The Coast (US), Isis (Europe), and Evergreen Terrace / This Is Hell / Casey Jones / Four Letter Lie (US).

Click Read More to check out our ongoing contests, new streaming music, social networking links and more.

The Rx Bandits have posted the first in an intended series of video updates to YouTube. The band plans to document the writing, rehearsing and recording of their next full length. With studio time booked in late January or early February of 2009, the record can be expected later that year. You can view the video clip by clicking Read More.

The band released ...And the Battle Begun in 2006.

Exeter UK's The Cut Ups have posted the track listing and cover art for their follow up to 2006's Paris Street in Ruins, titled The High and Mighty. Household Name Records will release the album on January 26th 2009. Click below to check out the track listing and cover art.

The band previously posted the song "'These Bones Were Built on Rice," which can be downloaded here.

Minneapolis punk band The Framed have posted a new song online titled "The One." The track appears on their upcoming full length Angels And The Knives They Carry, which is due out early next year. The band recorded this fall at The Terrarium in Minneapolis with Eric Olson and Dave Gardner (Dillinger Four, Teethgrinder) at the helm.

In early December Battle Creek, Michigan's Holy Hounds will enter Oceans Studio in Lansing, MI to record with engineer Christopher Neu. The band, which cites Bear Vs Shark, Small Brown Bike, and Hot Water Music as influences, plan to record 14 songs for a full length to be titled Cigarettes on Vinyl. There is no release date yet planned for the album.

Örebro, Sweden's Radio Brigade, which features former members of Bombshell Rocks and the Peepshows has five songs up online at MySpace.

Vancouver, BC's The New Pornographers were recently filmed during their show in Sydney, Australia at The Annandale Hotel. The website Moshcam was in attendance and have posted the entire set to their website.

Earlier this year, de facto frontman for the goup, A.C. Newman, spoke about writing for a new New Pornographers album. The group released Challengers last year through Matador Records.

You can view the full set here.

KTP from Lawrence, Kansas, were robbed this holiday weekend. The band is currently on their Winter '08 tour, and were in California when they woke up to find their trailer gone and van empty. Here's the original bulletin the band posted on MySpace:

we woke up this morning to no trailer and an empty van. everything is missing.
if you live in northern california-- particularly Pinole (San Fran/Oakland/San Jose) are KEEP YOUR EYES PEELED for equipment with our logo sprayed on it. if you see any gear or a gray trailer with Kansas plate number VMO-273 call the police and contact us.