T.S.O.L. Releases 30th Anniversary Album as Free Download - Life, Liberty & The Pursuit of Free Downloads on Hurley.com January 22, 2009 Brand New Album Released as Free Download on Hurley.com

Jan 31, 2009 – Costa Mesa, Calif. Orange County/ HB punks, True Sounds of Liberty have released the 30th Anniversary album, ”Life, Liberty & The Pursuit of Free Downloads” today, as a free download on www.hurley.com/tsol.

With fans that span three decades, T.S.O.L. has become a fixture on the Southern California music scene. In partnership with the band, Hurley is helping to produce the record and giving-away the album for free as a gift to the fans of Punk rock and T.S.O.L.

T.S.O.L., including original guitarist Ron Emory, bassist Mike Roche, keyboardist Greg Kuehn, vocalist Jack Grisham, and Tiny Bubs, are using the project as a call-to-action in order to gain the support for several charities they are involved with including the Midnight Mission, Surfrider, Orangewood Foundation, SPCA and the Orange County Food Bank.

"I was really happy with the way our recording experience worked out with Hurley; one, it was like a bit of a family situation over there (Hurley Studio’s), so a lot of friends were constantly dropping in and out," said Grisham. "It’s great to get that immediate approval or disapproval from the people that know you best. And, two, being in Orange County, half a mile from the beach, is home to us and there’s nothing better than smelling the Santa Ana River at low tide when you’re trying to get a vibe!"

In just one week, the band recorded their 16th album with Grammy-award winning producer, David Bianco. Through-out the recording process, December 17th to December 24th, 2008, visitors to Hurley.com were able to access live streaming video of the band while at the Hurley Studio via the URL www.hurley.com/tsol.

As the ”Life, Liberty & The Pursuit of Free Downloads” becomes available as a free download at www.hurley.com/tsol, the band is preparing to hit the road with a U.S. tour planned for January and February 2009.



ABOUT T.S.O.L.
T.S.O.L. is an Orange County-based band that originated in Huntington Beach in the late 70's. Credited with being one of the most influential bands of the hardcore SoCal punk sound, the infamous group has recorded 15 albums since 1981, appeared in six motion pictures, been featured in numerous books and magazines focusing on the origins of the hardcore sound, and participated in more than 30 major tours throughout the U.S., Canada and Europe. To this day, T.S.O.L. remains a musical and political tour de force; in the California 2003 recall election, T.S.O.L. front man Jack Grisham was a candidate for governor.


ABOUT HURLEY
Hurley is the leading global lifestyle brand with strong roots in surf, skate, art and music. Hurley develops world-class products for the youth market, including sportswear, denim and outerwear for guys, girls and kids, footwear, eyewear, girl's swimwear, accessories and wetsuits. Hurley's corporate headquarters are located in Costa Mesa, CA, with international offices in Tokyo, Sydney and Barcelona. For more information, visit www.Hurley.com.

Taking a closer look at downtown statistics


Editor’s note: this item has been partially re-written–by its author–in hopes of improving it

When you think of downtown Long Beach and Pine Avenue, what images come to mind? A late-night walker being stalked–and badly beaten–by four still-unidentified assailants? A brawl outside a nightclub? For Long Beach police, how we see the street is as big a problem as actual crime.

“The perception issue is my biggest issue when it comes to crime. And if I have a community that doesn’t feel safe out there at night, I have a crime problem,” says the man in charge of keeping Pine Avenue safe, Long Beach Police Department’s South Division Commander Jay Johnson.

There’s perception, there’s reality–and then there’s statistics, which can sometimes say more or less than we’d like them to. A good example can be found in today’s Press-Telegram story on the fight early Sunday outside the Rhythm Lounge nightclub, which is upstairs at Pine Square, 245 Pine Ave.

“Officers have been called to the address approximately 86 times since January, according to Long Beach Police Department records,” writes the P-T’s Kelly Puente, repeating a number the newspaper first trumpeted online yesterday. But there’s more to those numbers than you know.

“The correct number is six [calls for police service to Rhythm Lounge]–it’s a huge difference,” says Johnson. “Six of them since the first of the year. 245 Pine [Ave.] is the entire complex, that’s everything there. And that includes if there’s a traffic accident in front of there as well.”

And what about those six times police visited the Rhythm Lounge?

“No major calls, no major crimes,” Johnson says. “Usually revolving around alcohol consumption. And that’s not an uncommon amount for any nightclub down there.”

“You get that kind of urban environment, that many people in close quarters and these kinds of things are going to happen. Pine [Avenue] has been getting a bad rap lately.”

So has Rhythm Lounge, where promoter Joe Mohanty was shocked to hear that police had been called to the club 86 times this year. (Full disclosure: Rhythm Lounge advertises in The District Weekly.)

“That’s crazy. I don’t know if that’s true or not,” Mohanty said in a telephone interview yesterday afternoon–and, of course, it wasn’t. “That makes it sound like a haven for criminals.” And it’s not, especially now.

Moving swiftly to learn from other people’s mistakes–in this case, Sunday morning’s amateur prizefighters–Mohanty and club owner Johnny Alvarez are taking the club back to its roots as a live-music venue, and moving away from the dance club all-deejay format that turned ugly last weekend.

“We’re going back to our original format, which was live music in the main room and then a lounge area where there’s a deejay,” Alvarez said in a telephone interview yesterday afternoon. “As opposed to, we were doing an [all]-dance club.”

And if that sounds inexpensive, rest assured that it isn’t.

“Johnny [Alvarez] wants safety,” Mohanty, the promoter, said. “The frustrating thing to me is that’s a big income loss and we’ve got to fill it and subsidize part of the loss. The bar did well on that night.”

No one’s sure if the dance club’s replacement will make anyone thirsty Saturday night–but its name would seem to encourage tipplers.

It’s a band. Its name is Boozer, and it’s fronted by a man named Eddie Boozer. (And yes, you should always drink responsibly, etc.)

Will that make Pine Avenue safe? Safer? Depends.

“Violent crime is going down. I think what’s hitting everybody hard everywhere, and not just on Pine Avenue, is the economy. Two in the morning, when the bars are closing and shoving everybody out, you might not want to take your kids down there then,” Johnson says. “But I’ve taken my kids down there for dinner. I’ve taken my kids down there for lunch.”

Besides, your kids don’t drink anyway, right?



My thoughts added to this
Media and the power it holds over the general public can cause the false to become true. (Keep in mind this common set of words) "Perception is in the eyes of the beholder” When the media writes a story without properly researching these called facts it gives a false perception of the truth.
Ethics, education, a non bias approach to journalism and research is 100% necessary so the general public is not lead to believe false or skewed information.
With this story the difference between 86 and 6 can cause a perception of a business on Pine Avenue to be a negative rather than a positive. This same perception could help to the demise of this business and add to the growing number of vacant business on Pine Avenue.
Media outlets have a responsibility to report the truth even if they don’t agree with an issue they are reporting it MUST NOT mislead the public regardless if it’s a mistake or intentional.

I first want to apologize about the issues on hand with the JFA show and sorry to all the bands and those who were planning on going to this show. This show was not booked by the head talent buyer and since I was laid off they have given this show the least amount of promotional exposure they could have done.

The reasons for this show getting canceled are directly caused by the head talent buyer and the general manager.

Leading up to the JFA show there was a solid buzz about it and the show would have done very well from a financial point. The unfortunate situation was caused by the lack of responsibility, greed and straight up ignorance from the head talent buyer and the general manager. The night before this show was a show that booked by the head talent buyer. The cost for this show on Saturday was 13,000 more than the JFA show and the ticket sales for this show on Saturday July 26th were extremely light. This was a co sponsored show with Camel and with this the venue was given a solid amount of money from the sponsor and they still had an issues on covering the costs.

This camel show that the head talent buyer threw together wasn't even the show the Vault had set up. It was supposed to be Mickey Alavon and it was put together by another person who was laid off for all the wrong reasons. Since he was let go the head talent buyer and the general manager tossed this show aside and put together the show that tanked on Saturday July 26th.

With that being done the venue or should I say the general manager and the head talent buyer used the excuse that they didn't want to take a big hit on the JFA show. How was this going to be a negative hit when the show only costs 2100 for talent? IT WASN'T!! The problem is there was no way it was going to happen. The walk up alone on this show was going to cover all costs of the bands and the bar would have been solid.

The JFA show in way should have been cancelled and if they would have contacted me I would have done everything necessary to make sure it was still a go. No attempts at contact with me at all. I’ve been in this situation multiple times. I have had shows booked and the head talent buyer is hating for whatever reason has tried to get them cancelled to the point I have had to come out of pocket to cover support bands just to make sure the show keeps going. These same shows are shows that have had solid profit for this venue.

Too many things here don’t make any sense and it’s a shame that the owner has incompetent people in charge of this venue because it's a great place for shows except with the people who have been running it as of late. The moves they make don’t follow any logic at all.

The general manager and the head talent buyer have made completely irrational decisions and the decisions were made completely for self gain and not in the best interest of the venue. How many times does the work of a couple of people end up affecting so many more in a negative way?

Mistakes, I wonder why sometimes I don't go with my true feelings. Yes it's because I feel sorry for people. This same sorrow is what leads me down a road that I've been down too many times. The road that only brings me down. Well this isn't a road that I'm planning on traveling anymore because this is a dead end road. You're out because I've chosen so. Since I've banished you from my life you have only tried harder and harder to get back in. You have all of these accusations about me but they are false. You have projected your own guilt on to me only to realize that I don't care what you say about me because your lies don't get under my skin. You make threats to tell on me for lies that you make up and I wonder if I was to make threats to tell on you for your guilt of narcing out people or being a crybaby, or showing your friends who mock you behind your back how two faced you really are I wonder how would you handle it? Can you handle it, that is the truth being told about who you really are and what you've really done. You are fake, you try to paint a picture about how cool you are by claiming to be such a pimp but as much as you claim this it only shows your insecurities. The more you claim this the more you show that you are anything but this. Here's a thought go do a search on your name in Google and see what comes up. 72% to blame but to this day you say that it was the fault of someone or something else. Face the facts, admit your wrong doings, and know there are people who know what you have recently done to get out of trouble.

The best about all of this is how much better I'm doing without you near to fuck it up. Yes I enjoy the fact that you are not around because once you re-entered my kingdom it was like a shadow was cast and your negative world came down with you. Your lies were known but not called out, your negative energy bore down on any who was around to take it's toll. You finally cracked, your jealousy finally came to the surface, your contradictions finally bit you in the ass, your true colors and lies were seen by those around but the best that happened is your lack of control finally got the better of you and you fell flat on your face, right on the ground at the base of my feet. I could have given you what you deserved which was a swift kick in the jaw but as time stood still I had pity for you, because no matter how much people have tried to help, you just fuck it up time and time again. I thought what a poor soul given so many chances only to fuck up again. I wonder do you enjoy the irrational loneliness that you set yourself up to deal with?

Someone pointed something out to me to read, it was something you said and your actions prove louder than your lies. You make attempts to try to be friends wondering and saying things only to see I have no response and then you go at it with your never ending lies. Why do you keep at it? Why can't you give it up? Why must you try to prove to me you're correct? Because I know your lies and if you can be friends again with me you feel that this will prove you're correct. You have had so many breaks and you would have been given more only if you could have admitted the truth but that isn't possible from you. You have a lot to think about and it must suck to know that you are so far from the person you claim to be. It must suck to always claim you are a pimp when a true pimp would never have to claim that he is a pimp. A true player as you like to call yourself knows that he is one without telling everyone. The fact is that you must face your insecurities and you must face the guilt that you consistently fuck up anything good in your life. You must face the facts that you need to be responsible for your actions and if you do something wrong and you get caught you need to take your punishment like a man rather than make up excuses and have someone else do your punishment.

I don't have to look over my shoulders and wonder if my actions will come back to haunt me. I take responsibility for my actions and this is something you need to start to do without any excuses. It's good to have every day be sunny and I feel for you because every day you wake up you know you're waking up to a lie that keeps growing. Hopefully you can change your ways and then you may feel better about yourself and self-worth. Understand I wish you the best of luck to do this but know one thing even if you finally change you will never be involved in my life unless you force yourself in. If you do this then I will know you still haven't learned because why would anyone want to be involved in a relationship or be friends with someone if they are not wanted? You're not wanted and this is my participation. This is the last participation unless forced into more.

have a friend or relative lie to your face so much that you had enough and you don't want to deal with them at all?

I'm not really a big hip hop head I'm into traditional punk not watered down bubble gum Disney punk that the radio and corporate sponsors call punk without naming any bands good charlotte and simple plan. Punk like Bad Religion, Suicidal, Exploited and so on. Back to hip hop:
I do like hip hop but most that comes out is all about the guns and bling bling (I can't believe bling is in Webster's, what a waste)don't forget the Ho's in different area codes and glamorizing violence and that's what you get. Don't get me wrong I'm all about realism and I've always like Ice Cube from the early daze of NWA through the feuding with Eric Wright aka Eazy Mutha Fuckin E with classics like Summer Vacation. I can't forget to mention Lethal Injection produced by George Clinton which I think is one of the best produced rap albums all the Way to the current with West Side Connection. That's good music but overall most of the hip hop and rap that comes out is watered down bling bling.
What is happening with the current state of Hip Hop? Thank God for Tribe Called Quest and the influence they have had on some groups that are about to come up hard. Give props to Conscience Hip Hop because it's hear and it's movement is growing faster than a major league baseball player denies that he's used steroids. (not counting Jose can you see cansanko off the radar screen so lets put out a book that sells everyone out he's ever played with)The conscience hip hop movement and the leaders of positive words. Keep your eyes and ears open for The Visionaries, Crown City Rockers and the Living Legends. They are for real and their music is positive. One Love, One World, One planet and it couldn't be anymore evident with the Visionaries last album which is titled "Pangaea"
If you don't know the term Pangaea please pick up a geography book because it's the base of everything on this planet. If you're too lazy to pick up a book and you must be told Pangaea is the super continent. Pangaea is one giant land mass that separated to form what we call the continents of the earth today. The Visionaries are something special a conscience movement that has 6 members that are as diverse in culture as a New York city crowded subway station. Listen for them look for them on myspace.com or anyone who is into underground hip hop will be able to find them.
More to come with this post in the future... Next up is the Crown City Rockers who are the Future of hip hop. If you take digital planets and mix it with Tribe Called Quest but throw in the flair of two musicians from the Berkley School of music and you have something very very special. Listen to these guys you won't be disappointed unless you don't want to open your mind and your all about bling...

Oneness