Florida punks Against Me! are working on a follow-up to 2007’s New Wave, to be released next year. The album is being produced by Butch Vig, who helmed the boards during the band’s last album (and has also worked with Nirvana, Green Day, and Smashing Pumpkins) and who “gets our band and brings tons of great ideas to the table,” according to frontman Tom Gabel. “The guy has got such a great track history, you can’t really fuck with that.” While the producer has remained a constant between records, the drummer has not, as George Rebelo has replaced Warren Oakes behind the drum set.

Lyrically and thematically, the album represents a departure for the group as well: “I feel like we are constantly pushing ourselves to better what we did on the previous record,” said Gabel. “New Wave was a great album to make, and now we want to show another side of the band. The new songs feel like a natural progression of where we should be at.” Gabel claims that the songs are “all over the place” thematically and that a recurring theme is “reflection.” (via SPIN)

In a very spicy turn of events, Against Me! drummer Warren Oakes has decided to leave the band in favor of selling burritos, according to MTV. His parting with the band was mutual and amicable, resulting from the simple fact that touring is exhausting and Oakes felt that the time had come to do other things. Until further notice, he will be spending his days working at Mexican restaurant Boca in Gainesville, FL. In other indie rawk/Mexican cuisine news, former Shins drummer Jesse Sandoval seems to be thriving in his newly-opened Mexican food cart business, Pitchfork reports. Video of Sandoval’s New Mexican treats is above for your viewing pleasure.

—Nikki Turner