Hugh Cornwell is one of the UK’s finest song-writing talents and accomplished live performers. The original guitarist, singer and main songwriter in The Stranglers enjoyed massive UK and European success with ten hit albums and twenty-one top forty singles, etching himself into the UK’s musical psyche with Peaches, No More Heroes, Golden Brown, Always the Sun, Grip, Nice N Sleazy, Duchess, Walk on By, Strange Little Girl and Skin Deep.

Following rave reviews in the UK, Hugh Cornwell’s new studio album TOTEM AND TABOO is set to be released in the US on June 25th, via Red River Entertainment and through Red/SONY Distribution. Recorded at Electrical Audio Studios in Chicago, the album was engineered and mixed by the legendary Steve Albini.

In support of the album, Hugh will perform US dates in October and December 2013 and will feature the new songs, as well as classic Stranglers material.

THE STORY OF THE DEAD ON….

Many bands are born from the ashes of previous bands but try to shake their pasts. Well, The Dead On embrace their previous musical lives and set out to shake the rafters instead. Formed from Chicago stalwart greats Woolworthy and The Reputation, The Dead On embody modern rock n roll with big, dirty guitar hooks, snotty slash and burn riffs and ultra catchy melodies. They are on a mission to make great Rock N Roll and to make Rock N Roll great again.

Rudy Gonzalez (ex-Woolworthy), singer, guitar player and songwriter for the band unleashes his wild, weary spirit and introspective songwriting. He writes songs that sound good in bad places. Greg Mytych (ex-The Reputation) on bass, brings the right amount of powerhouse attack, catchy bass fills and harmony vocals to the gang. With Charley Ryan (ex-Empty Spaces), on lead guitar, the ante is raised. He blazes through each song like it’s his exorcism. He is the dangerous Keith Richards to Rudy’s ragged Mick Jagger. The addition of drummer Loren Guzik (ex-Penthouse Sweets) completes the action pact. His drumming slams and bashes yet is precise and tasteful all at the same time.

The debut album by The Dead On, The Way It Feels When It Feels This Way will knock you out and then hold your hand and make it all better. Guitar riffs catchy enough to work their way into your pleasure spot; all done with heart-pounding energy. With the right blend of The Replacements gutsy rock, the grit of CBGB and the intensity of the Foo Fighters, they have a bash & pop masterpiece. They sound like an 80’s post-punk band dipped in 70’s Thin Lizzy raunch and transported into the future. With simple and melodic songs like She Is All The Rage and You Make My Love Grow, the band revitalizes the power pop genre with power chords and infectious drum beats. On tracks It’s Lonely Where You Are and the punchy You Can’t Do Anything About Anything (You Can’t Do Anything About), the ringing guitars and haunting spaces show the band’s depth. Hold Me In Suspension and We Are All Alive allow the band to stick a flag in the Rock N Roll Handbook for future generations to come.

The Dead On, simply put, is a breath of fresh air for Rock N Roll. They wear their hearts and guts on their sleeves in equal measure. They own it and want to give it away. The band is on to something and it is dead on. Or shall I say, it is The Dead On.

Led by screenwriter and activist Rob Warmowski, SIRS is a Chicago noise-rock trio releasing their third record “High Minors”. From high school beginnings in early punk rock, SIRS extends the Chicago tradition of hard, smart and loud reflections of an absurd city. Disturbed crooning, pummeling rhythm, and a fistful of guitar.