Just as no one saw The Replacements reunion coming, no one saw this going down: Kim Deal has suddenly left those other alt-rock icons, The Pixies. And it appears the band is going to carry on without her.

It was announced by the other three members in a short statement on their official Facebook page (the band's official website hasn't had a news update in a year): "We are sad to say that Kim Deal has decided to leave the Pixies. We are very proud to have worked with her on and off over the last 25 years. Despite her decision to move on, we will always consider her a member of the Pixies, and her place will always be here for her. We wish her all the best -- Black Francis, Joey Santiago and David Lovering.

The announcement caught distressed fans by surprise. Deal has been working with her side band The Breeders to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their album "Last Splash." In an interview in today's Irish Times the subject of the Pixies doesn't even come up, much less indicate any trouble. Nor does Deal's official website mention it.

In an interview with me when the band reunited in 2004, Francis admitted that he had problems with the attention that Deal got from fans (he originally broke up the band via fax). 

They've allegedly turned down millions from the likes of Coachella, but Paul Westerberg and Tommy Stinson will play at least three Replacements reunion dates this summer and fall - news which caught even the most hardcore fans by surprise.

Instead of those high-profile offer, they're playing three dates on the lesser known Riot Act Festival in Toronto on Aug. 25, Chicago Sept. 13-15 and Denver Sept. 21 and 22.

Besides The Smiths, a Replacements reunion has been one that fans have been clamoring for. Though they never broke through big in their heyday - they reportedly left their record label $1 million in debt - their influence has been huge and the legend has only grown. They got some radio airplay with "Can't Hardly Wait," "Alex Chilton," "Skyway" and "I'll Be You," but never completely broke through.

Stinson has spent much of his time in Axl Rose's version of Guns N' Roses. Westerberg has had an erratic solo career, touring only occasionally and releasing some music on CD, some only on the Internet. He had some radio success with "Love Untold" but has been out of the spotlight for years, literally and figuratively. 

Tom Petty's fans were furious when fire marshals shut down his intimate show at a small Los Angeles theater over the weekend due to overcrowding. But according to the L.A. Weekly, neither the band nor the authorities were to blame.

The magazine has had rampant reports of security at the venue taking cash bribes to let extra fans into the super-sold-out show.

While there are only allegations so far (and the theater isn't commenting), the Weekly has on-the-record statements from patrons saying that they witnessed the bribery of the very people who were supposed to make sure no unauthorized persons got in - for obvious reasons, both safety and ethical. Eighty bucks got you in the door, the magazine said.

A perplexed and pissed Petty, who knew the show had not been oversold, promised all fans a refund out of his own pocket -- a classy thing to do given the band did nothing wrong. But the the Weekly's allegations are true, watch for a whole lot of trouble and firings coming out of this.
 

Flavorwire is unquestionably one of the best resources on the whole internet for cool, weird stuff. One such is the list they just posted of 50 movies you can watch online for free, and legally. Most of the titles were just regular movies, but a few will be of interest to music lovers. 

Not long after the demise of her essential '90s punk band Bikini Kill, Kathleen Hanna released a small, homemade-sounding record of electronicky songs that attempted to reconcile the disconnections between rock and dance music. It was called Julie Ruin, and it didn't make a huge splash (except with a few of us). Soon-ish after that, Hanna unveiled Le Tigre, a full-on dance outfit that became a minor sensation in the early '00s. Now, Hanna is back with more Julie Ruin, this time with a band (The Julie Ruin, including Bikini Kill's Kathi Wilcox on bass), and, one can only hope, big plans. The album trailer is above, and you can hear the first song, "Oh Come On," right here. 

Face it, the Brits simply know how to have a better time than we do. While waiting for Green Day to take the stage, Queen's classic "Bohemian Rhapsody" came on the PA system.

Ever wondered what it sounds like when 60,000 people spontaneously sing along to Queen? Well, now you know. Crank it up.


 

In last week's "New York Times" former Drive By Truckers member Jason Isbell (and his former bandmates) gave a breathtakingly candid interview about how substance abuse had affected his music and life. He was kicked out of the band and went on as Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit.

Alcohol continued to plague him. But now he's sober and his new solo album "Southeastern" is due out this week. It's as honest and raw as the interview, with Isbell singing in the lead cut "Cover Me Up" that "I sobered up / I swore off that stuff / forever this time."

Critics are calling it some of his finest work ever - a pretty high bar. You can decide yourself, as it's streaming live right now. If it's not his best, it ranks up there.








 

 

I haven't been this excited since KISS took off their makeup (or better yet, when they put it back on -- that was a dark era in our nation's history).

Daft Punk's Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter have been sticklers for not letting their faces be seen since the duo started wearing helmets in 2001. The recent cover story in Rolling Stone had an older unmasked photo of the pair, but the Internet has produced a new blurry snapshot of the pair, seen above.

Yep. They're playing champagne pong at Columbia Records. Fellow EDM artist The Knocks leaked the picture and tried to take it back, but there are no do-overs in cyberspace.  The Onion's AV Club, Gawker and plenty of others were more than willing to spread the photo. And now we have too.