The Vaselines - "Molly's Lips" [Video:Eric Helton/Pete Maiden; Editing by Eric Helton]

We recently had the pleasure of welcoming the Vaselines into the Smoking Section. While they were in the U.S. on a recent tour, founding members Frances McKee and Eugene Kelly found time to drop by and play us three of their classics: "Molly's Lips," "Jesus Wants Me For a Sunbeam" and "Son of a Gun."

In the Eighties the Vaselines released two EPs, and in 1990 put out their one and only album, Dum-Dum. They found a fan in Kurt Cobain, who called the Vaselines his "most favorite songwriters in the world." Cobain named his daughter Frances after McKee, and Nirvana covered "Son of A Gun" and "Molly's Lips" on Incesticide and "Sunbeam" on Unplugged.

Sub Pop records just released Enter the Vaselines, which includes both EP and their '90 debut. Go check it out! And check out "Molly's Lips" above, and two more cuts after the jump.

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Photo: Caulfied/WireImage(Dylan), Hill/FilmMagic(Coldplay), Sung-Jun/Getty(Strokes)

We are still recovering from our crazy Memorial Day weekend.

Photo: Mazur/WireImage

Green Day's eighth studio album, 21st Century Breakdown, has topped charts across the globe.

A few days ago we chatted with drummer Tre Cool about their crazy week in New York City, which included SNL with Will Ferrell, club gigs at Bowery Ballroom and Mercury Lounge, and their massive summer tour featuring opening acts Franz Ferdinand, the Rapture and Kaiser Chiefs. Check out the tour dates here. And there's even more Green Day Q&As here: Tre Cool, Billie Joe Armstrong and Mike Dirnt.

On SNL:

"It was the last show of the season, so everybody came out. Will Ferrell was the host, Tom Hanks did one skit, Amy Poehler, Norm MacDonald and Anne Hathaway of all people! After we did the show, we waved bye and hugged each other, the credits rolled and it it cut to commercial. Then the producer said to us, 'Hey, if you guys want to jump on your equipment and play some more songs, we can make this a little show.' So we jumped on and played a couple more songs, and of course, here comes Will Ferrell with a freakin' cowbell, and we're doing "East Jesus Nowhere," which has some pretty complicated starts and stops, and he'd never heard it, so he was kind of a deer in headlights up there. It was great.

"At the afterparty, we were standing on the ice rink in Rockefeller Center where the ice usually is, and there was about an inch or so of water, and it was cool to see all these dudes in their new sneakers and chicks in their rad  $400 Manolo shoes just cruising around in two inches of water and not giving a fuck. There were people dancing and Will Ferrell showed up in a Gucci jumpsuit with gold chains and money rings and shit, and it was pretty wild."

On Club Shows:

"We rocked Bowery Ballroom really fucking hard. That place, that's holy ground, man. That's a holy place. All of the cool bands that have gone through there, all the kickass shows, all the carrying on that has come as a result of that place's existence.

"Webster Hall is pretty awesome, too. Both places felt like they were going to cave in. We actually have footage of Webster Hall -- the ceiling is buckling and nearly collapsing. It was moving like a foot up and down. It was basically a giant wooden trampoline with a thousand people jumping up and down.

"Oh man, and we feed off of that fun and energy, especially now that the album's out. It seems like most of the kids know the words. Billie can stick his arm out into the audience with a microphone and they'll sing the lyrics for him."

On the Tour:

"We'll be going at it full force starting in Seattle in July.  We wanted to get supporting bands that we actually like. The first leg of the tour is the Bravery. I've bought two Bravery records, and I'm a fan of that band so we suggested them and they were available. They'll be with us for two weeks. Then we've got Franz Ferdinand, who's going to come for another two weeks another band that we really like. If I was a concertgoer and I got to see Franz and then Green Day, I'd need a new pair of panties. And then we have the Kaiser Chiefs. It's debatable who's better of those two bands. They both kick ass in their own special way. It's a real treat!

"It's tough competition, but we always step it up. We're not worried, we'll play after anybody. We're Green Day, dude."

Photo:

The full line up for Glastonbury 2009 has been announced and it looks pretty frickin' awesome. Neil Young, Blur and Bruce Springsteen will headline the four-day fest at the Worthy Farm site in Pilton, England.

Held on June 25th - 28th, Glastonbury will also feature S.S. favorites Fleet Foxes, Regina Spektor, the Ting Tings, Rumble Strips, Ray Davies (on the acoustic stage!), Crosby Stills & Nash, Franz Ferdinand, M. Ward,  Cold War Kids & many more.

Click the jump for the full line-up, and head over to the Glastonbury site for more info.

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Photo: Mazur/MPL/WireImage

In a recent interview with Rolling Stone Bob Dylan confessed that he would love to write with Paul McCartney. 

"That'd be exciting to do something with Paul!" he said. "But, ya know, your paths have to cross for something like that to make sense." 

As soon as Macca's camp got word of Dylan's interest they relayed the message to Paul, who is reportedly also interested in a collaboration.

Now, the Daily Express is reporting the two will record together this summer. Citing an "insider" as a source, the paper says the pair plan to work as a duo and will do the recording in one of their homes in SoCal.

“Paul has a home in California not too far from Bob’s so the idea is for the two to meet when Paul is in California over the summer,” says the mole.

“They’ll obviously want to work in privacy and it’s felt one of their homes will be the best bet. Getting these two together for any length of time is difficult schedule-wise but they both want this to work out. The music that comes out of this will be fascinating to hear.”

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McLovins - "Purple Trees" [Video:Eric Helton/Alex Tirpack; Editing by Eric Helton]

A few months ago we told you about the McLovins -- a trio of Connecticut kids who have managed to harness the musical ferocity of Trey Anastasio, Les Claypool and Stewart Copeland before being able to legally drive a car.

The McLovins are drummer Jake Huffman, 16, bassist Jason Ott, 15, and guitarist Jeff Howard, 14. Don't let their age fool you though, these kids wail. In fact, we were so impressed we invited them (and their parents, of course) to S.S. headquarters to hang out and play a few tunes for us. 

Jake and Jeff met at a jazz camp in Connecticut last summer. A week later they hooked up with Jason and they've been jamming ever since, starting with Phish and Meters covers before writing originals. "We're definitely influenced by a lot of jam bands," Jake says. "But my primary focus had always been jazz. Moving from jazz to rock, well, jam-rock seems to be a nice transition."

Jeff, though, has a soft spot for metal. "I was into a lot of heavy guitar shredding, metal, that sort of thing," he says. "It's influenced me a lot. But jamming is just so much fun."

Check out "Purple Trees" above, and click the jump for "Din" and "Guillotine Machine" -- all original tunes. Also, Look for a McLovins album this summer, and make sure you catch them at the Gathering of the Vibes festival or at one of their upcoming gigs. 

UPDATE: LOVIN' the McLovins? Send an email telling us why. The best entry gets an autographed Rolling Stone t-shirt AND an McLovins t-shirt too! 

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Photo:Michael Ochs Archive/Getty

A sad poem written by Bob Dylan is up for auction at Christie's and is expected to fetch between ten to fifteen grand.

"Little Buddy" is about a boy losing his dog after a drunken man beats it to death. Originally published in the Herzl Herald -- Dylan's camp newspaper -- in 1958, the handwritten copy of "Little Buddy" was written in blue ink and is signed Bobby Zimmerman. Read the poem after the jump.

The editor of the newspaper, Lisa Heilicher, has kept the original submission for over fifty years. "I kept it with all of my stuff that I collected from camp," Heilicher said. "When I realized how famous he had become, I put it in a piece of plastic and stuck it in an encyclopedia."

All proceeds from the winning bidder will be donated to Herzl Camp, which sits on the shores of Devils Lake, in Minnesota. 

There's a ton of other Dylan memorabilia up for auction at Christie's. Check it out.

UPDATE: Holy plagiarism! Turns out "Little Buddy" was actually written by Hank Snow and was featured on Snow's 1958 album When Tragedy Struck. Seems like young Zimmerman changed a few lyrics and submitted the poem as his own work. Ah, to be 16 again. 

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In the summer of 2008, Jack Johnson led his crew into Europe for the Sleep Through the Static summer tour. It was the biggest tour of his career -- hundreds of thousands of people came out to sing along. Cameras were rolling, and in August, Brushfire Records will release Jack Johnson: En Concert, a collection of highlights from the run of dates in Paris, Newquay Watergate Bay, Berlin, Munich, the Netherlands and London. 

Produced and directed by Johnson's manager, Emmett Mallow, En Concert features performances from Johnson and his band (Adam Topol, Merlo Podlewski and Zach Gill) as well as Ben Harper, G-Love, Mason Jennings, Neil Halsted and Matt Costa.

There will also be a live CD in August for Jack's faithful fandom!!!

Check out the trailer for En Concert above. The footage Johnson surfing the Eisbach River in Munich is fuckin' crazy!

Photo: FilmMagic

San Francisco's premiere rock festival, Outside Lands, just got a little bit sweeter.

Conor Oberst & the Mystic Valley Band, Lucinda Williams and North Carolina bluegrassers the Avett Brothers have been added to the line-up.

Held between August 28th and 30th at Golden Gate Park -- where we used to get super-baked when we were kids growin' up in Frisco -- Outside Lands will also host sets by Pearl Jam, the Beastie Boys and Dave Matthews Band as well as S.S. favorites Ween, the Mars Volta, Modest Mouse, TV on the Radio, Mastodon, Heartless Bastards, Matt & Kim and a ton more. 

For the full line-up, click here!  

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Check out this bizarre Modest Mouse clip for their new single, "Satellite Skin." It was directed by Kevin Willis, the genius behind all of Tool's awesome stop-animation videos. The tune is from the upcoming EP, No One's First and You're Next, due in August.

There's also an awesome B-side on the vinyl edition of the single. It's called "Guilty Cocker Spaniels," and you can now stream the cut at Stereogum. 

We think both tunes rock, but we're digging the B-side a little more. 

What do you think?