MNSka band Small Kitchen Appliances have announced that they are entering the studio to record their first full-length album Versus Billy Mays.  The band has posted a blog on their myspace page detailing their recent hiatus and their upcoming plans.  You can view the blog post HERE.

Be sure to catch Small Kitchen Appliances Friday, May 8th at the Triple Rock in Minneapolis, MN when they open for Westbound Train, Fear Nuttin Band, and The Prizefighters.

According to Punknews.org, the Mighty Mighty Bosstones have recording and touring plans for this summer.

We have been busy for quite a while now writing songs and recording demos for a new MMB full-length. In June we will begin recording the album in Los Angeles with our good friend Ted Hutt on board as Producer. The process to this point has been really fun and we currently have 20 or so new songs in the works.

Since we are all going to be out there, we thought we’d take a quick spin up the coast to see some people and places we haven’t seen for a long, long time.

This is exciting news for Bosstones fans!  The past couple years have been pretty active for them, seeing as they released their rarities album Medium Rare in 2007 and toured with Dropkick Murphys in Summer 2008.  The upcoming full length will be their first since 2002′s A Jackknife To A Swan.

MNSka band 2 Tone Runts are currently working on putting together their first full-length release.  Tyrus A has created a blog to chronicle the band’s new album that includes pictures and videos from their rehearsal studio.  Follow along with the 2 Tone Runts during their recording adventure and look forward to a brand new album sometime next year.

You can check out the blog here.

It appears that legendary ska-core band the Mighty Mighty Bosstones are recording a new album.  They posted the following blog entry on their myspace today:

“Lately we have been busy writing and recording music for a new MMB record. Two of the songs, “Impossible Dream” and “next To Nothing” will be released next month on a limited edition 7″ on our own Big Rig Records (500 on black, 500 on white). We added these two songs to the player TONIGHT in order to commemorate and celebrate this historic election. Enjoy!”

The last album the Bosstones  realeased was 2002′s A Jackknife To A Swan on independent label Side One Dummy Records, just before they went on hiatus.  It appears the new album is set for release sometime next year.  More details to come!

According to punknews.org, Reel Big Fish, long-standing California ska-core band, have announced their plans to release an all covers album.  Aaron Barrett and the boys are titling this record Fame, Fortune and Fornication.  The album will feature songs like Poison’s “Talk Dirty To Me”, Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down”, John Mellencamp’s “Authority Song”, and The Eagles “The Long Run.”  Fear not ska fans, the record won’t have just watered down 80′s and 90′s rock, it will also feature some ska/reggae classics like Desmond Dekker’s “Keep A Cool Head” and Toots and the Maytals “Monkey Man.”  Expect the album to drop January 20, 2009 on Rock Ridge Records.

Reel Big Fish released Monkeys for Nothin’ and the Chimps for Free on Rock Ridge Records in 2007.

Jeff Rosenstock of the ecclectic ska-punk band Bomb The Music Industry! posted recently on myspace some details for their forthcoming album, Scrambles.  They are reported to have entered the studio on October 4th and the album is due out January 20, 2009.  Check out the tenative track-listing after the jump.

BTMI! have just come off an East Coast tour with Shinbou in support of their 2007 album Get Warmer.  They will be performing at The Fest 7 in Gainesville, FL as well as touring the UK in January and February.

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Dave Hillyard, tenor saxophonist of NYC’s The Slackers, is gearing up to record some brand new material for his side project, the Rocksteady 7.  The recording session is planned to take place over the course of 2 days at Seaside Studios in Brooklyn.

The tracks include cover songs of Fela Kuti, the Hippy Boys, Hepcat’s Lino Trujillo, and Mexican composer Armando Manzanero as well as original reggae, ska and soul tunes.

Dave Hillyard and the Rocksteady 7 last released United Front in 2003, followed by the 2007 live album Way out East: Live at The Kassablanca. The Slackers put out Self Medication earlier this year.

Ska supergroup Streetlight Manifesto has announced a their recording plans for the next year, an effort that will result in the release of 8 seperate CDs and span over 4 different performing groups.  As many know, Tomas Kalnoky and the gang are part of another music group known as the Bandits of the Acoustic Revolution, who put out their only album a few years ago.  In the liner notes of that album, they had mentioned that they would be working on a project known as the “99 Songs of Revolution.”  This collection will consist of 99 cover songs that span a variety of genres and different artists.  The band has released some details of this endeavor on their website:

The 99 Songs of Revolution Project will consist of 8 full length records. Two from SM, two from BOTAR, and two each from two other SM related groups. Yes, this is indeed the record that Victory mistakingly posted as coming out in Oct of 08. Not sure how they got that date, but it was never even a possibility. The first SM record for 99SOR will be out in early 2009, simultaneously with another of the 8 CDs (no, not the BOTAR one). Victory will be putting out the CDs and mp3s and Pentimento will be releasing and distributing the vinyl. We are aware of our reputation to take forever to release records and miss our self imposed deadlines, so we are not giving anyone solid dates, not even our labels. Early 09 release, that’s it.

The band have finished most of the demos for this project and will begin tracking in October.  This project, although incredibly ambitious, will be very entertaining to follow and the results will tide us over until the next full-length release from Streetlight Manifesto.

Streetlight Manifesto released Somewhere In The Between in 2007 on Victory Records.