May 8, 2013 – First! Well, we're not all that stoked for the guy, but Kenny Chesney's No. 1 victory for his 16th studio album Life on a Rock does give us an idea. The new set sold 153,000 according to Nielsen SoundScan — a very solid debut these days, which also happens to be his worst since 1999. His last album came out less than 11 months ago and it bowed at 193K. In fact, the man has released 10 (!) albums since 2004 and every single one of them has debuted in the Top 4, seven of those starting at the top of the Billboard 200. It is upon learning this that we humbly submit our resignation and head out for a life of storied bad luck to be followed almost immediately by untold riches and endless adoration.2 to 10: Phoenix is gone. Fall Out Boy is gone. Kid Cudi is gone. Paramore is gone. It seems like eons ago that the Strokes were anywhere near the Top 10.

May 8, 2013 – As I Lay Dying vocalist Tim Lambesis was arrested Tuesday (May 7) after allegedly attempting to hire an undercover police officer to kill his estranged wife. The San Diego County Sheriff's Department has released a statement titled "Murder for Hire Plot Foiled," which explains that the metalcore band's lead screamer was picked up "without incident" around 2 p.m. at a retail location in Oceanside, California. Authorities had been alerted of Lambesis' plans on May 2."Information came to us late last week," said department spokeswoman Jan Caldwell to Artisan News (clip below). "Our detectives, our fugitive task force and the sheriff's special investigations division immediately initiated an investigation into this allegation.

May 8, 2013 – For their sixth LP, Cosy Moments, shred-happy Seattle psych-punks Kinski have tightened up their approach and put main man Chris Martin up front. "I was getting tired of hearing people step on wah pedals and solo over psych rock," says the guitar-slinging singer via statement. "There were so many bands doing that, including us...We wanted to make something more direct."You don't get much closer to the source than the very literally titled "Let Me Take You Through My Thought Process," a riff-forward rocker featuring a blast of stream-of-consciousness lyrics: "Growing older, critics say / Solo album, Milky Way." The track's video accompaniment is a good fit.

May 8, 2013 – Massachusetts four-piece Speedy Ortiz handily made SPIN's Best New Artists list for the month of May. As our own David Bevan writes, they're "one of the Bay State's most promising indie-rock outfits, a '90s-informed, Northampton-based foursome whose sidewinding riffage and cheeky lyrical outbursts will become a national concern very soon." That was no idle chatter. We debuted the raucous "Ka-Prow!" last month, and now NPR's gotten their hands on the deliciously noise-popping "Tiger Tank" from the band's forthcoming full-length debut, Major Arcana. The album is due July 9 via Carpark Records and is said to be a fully collaborative effort between main brain Sadie Dupuis and her gang of fresh-faced dudes. Head over to All Songs Considered to hear the studio version of "Tiger Tank," and check out the older Wreckroom session above to witness the track's angsty might with your actual eyes.

May 8, 2013 – According to a promoter affiliated with the Rolling Stones' "50 and Counting" tour, reports that the legendary rock-and-rollers are deep-discounting tickets in order to fill arena seats are greatly exaggerated. "The fact is, the tour is doing great and we have no problems whatsoever," John Meglen, co-president of AEG Live's Concerts West division, tells Billboard. "There are no $600 tickets turning into $85 tickets, I can assure you of that."Yesterday, we reported that tickets to the first stops on the Stones' current tour had been discounted in the days leading up to the shows. Meglen confirms that did indeed happen, but explains that it was part of a "flex pricing" strategy in which they presumably hike up the price (and later drop it) in order to discourage scalpers from buying up all of the seats in advance.

May 7, 2013 – Led Zeppelin continue to be the biggest rock-teases in the business. The legendary band last reunited in 2007 for an Ahmet Ertegun tribute at London's O2 Arena and set a Guinness World Record by doing so: "Highest Demand for Tickets for One Music Concert." Ever since, they've been toying with their adoring public, knowing they hold all of the power in the relationship.In 2009, they considered touring without Robert Plant; in 2010, Plant came around; 2011 was strikingly quiet; and then came 2012, when the entire band actually did reunite ... for a press conference about a DVD release of that 2007 concert that kicked this whole mess off in the first place. Again and again, Zep Heads have asked themselves, "What would it take?"Well, nothing any of us are able to muster.

May 7, 2013 – Fake rappers (or "frappers" if you prefer) the Lonely Island have announced that their forthcoming third LP The Wack Album will feature a decidedly non-wack lineup including Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong, "Get Lucky" star Pharrell Williams, T-Pain, and Solange Knowles. This in addition to their already released (via Saturday Night Live) collaborations with Justin Timberlake, Lady Gaga, Kendrick Lamar and Maroon 5's Adam Levine.They also shared the final album art and a video explaining the impending arrival of "Wack Wednesdays," which Andy Samberg describes as "Like [Kanye West's] GOOD Fridays but way wacker." In other words, the trio will be sharing a new song or video weekly via the Lonely Island YouTube channel all the way up to the LP's June 11 release. So gird thy knees for imminent slapping, or, as Akiva Schaffer put it, "Hold onto your mom's dick."

May 7, 2013 – Nevada City native Alela Diane has come a long way since hand-packing (and decorating with lace) copies of her 2006 ghostly folk debut The Pirate's Gospel. Her knack for stringing together stirring melody and heavy subjects has evolved considerably, but she's also suffered setbacks.

May 7, 2013 – Daft Punk's Thomas Bangalter knows that bands aren't supposed to still be good 20 years into their career. In a rare interview with GQ, the helmeted man-droid drops a deep American cinema reference (what's French for "franchise"?) in order to explain his group's potential plight as they began to scrape together their first new album in eight years, Random Access Memories"In Scream 2, they have this discussion about how sequels always suck," he tells Zach Baron. "The thing we can ask ourselves at some point is like: We're making music for 20 years. How many bands and acts do you have that are still making good music after 20 years? It always sucks — almost always, you know? ...

May 7, 2013 – Last month, Laura Marling's "Master Hunter" came crashing out of the gate like an amped up combination of Bill Callahan's baritone blues and Fiona Apple's frenetic folk. The former comparison seems almost too fitting considering the title of her forthcoming album, Once I Was an Eagle, sounds like a retort to Callahan's 2009 masterpiece Sometimes I Wish We Were an Eagle. We've also heard the gentler, Dylanesque "Where Can I Go?" from the May 28 set (coming via Ribbon Music), but there's something about "Master Hunter" that's impossible to ignore. That forceful energy is captured and somewhat explained by the song's new video, in which Marling plays guitar and sings while a dangerous dance takes place in front of her. A waifish woman is beset upon by an aggressive man who overtakes her and simulates sex.