Twi-hards, rejoice: the soundtrack for the latest film in the Twilight series, New Moon, will be released this Friday, as “overwhelming and unprecedented demand” prompted the release date to be pushed up by four days. The album will be hitting stores more than a month before the film is released on November 20, so the Twilight faithful can comfort themselves with the musical musings of Death Cab for Cutie, Thom Yorke, Muse, the Killers, OK Go, Grizzly Bear, Lykke Li, Bon Iver, St. Vincent, Sea Wolf, and the Editors, among others, until their cinematic dreams become reality.

MTV has the full scoop on the most recent Twilight developments, of course, and is featuring an interview with OK Go and Lykke Li about their involvement with the soundtrack; check them out here and here. Stream the video for Death Cab for Cutie’s contribution to the soundtrack, titled “Meet Me on the Equinox,” here.

Today in weird-as-hell celebrity baby names: Brandon Flowers of the Killers has named his newborn son Gunner. Proffering an explanation to the Kramp and Adler radio show before playing a set at Lollapalooza this weekend, Flowers said that Gunner “is a tough name. I have to have something that combats against the Flowers.”

I suppose…

There is no doubt that Austalia’s Wolf & Cub will make you want to dance, with their forthcoming Dot Dash release coming this summer. Remixed by BFAM, the lead single “Seven Sevens” gets even more glossy.

After the success of their debut album, Vessels, Wolf and Cub recorded the new album, Science and Sorcery, with Chris Colonna, who took the bands early demos and helped shape their sound into the dark, dancey mix that is heard on tracks like “Seven Sevens”. Alongside the summer release of Science and Sorcery, Wolf & Cub will also be touring in support of their album. The band has already toured with the likes of TV On the Radio, The Killers, Queens of the Stone Age, Wolfmother and Primal Scream, so we are sure that their tour this time around will be just as promising as in the past.

Wolf & Cub “Seven Sevens” (BFAM Remix)

MP3 Download.

It’s only been a few weeks since The Killers’ Brandon Flowers declared that Kurt Cobain ruined rock’n'roll, but he’s back at it again, and this time Nirvana isn’t the only band in his sights. He’d also like to take this opportunity to talk trash about Led Zeppelin. Because hey, if you can be a famous singer you can at least be a famous douche bag.

Flowers told NME.com that they’re planning on using their upcoming North American tour to amp up their American audience to be on par with their fans across the pond. But in order to do that, he said, the band will have to overcome some “prejudices” of the American listening public first.

“We’ve been embraced in Britain in a way that I’ll never understand, and it’s such a wonderful thing,” he declared. “But over here [in America], people are still so obsessed with Led Zeppelin and Nirvana, those sorts of bands, that nobody else is allowed [to grow].”

“It doesn’t matter how many great songs we write or how many great shows we play. But we’re slowly chipping away at it. With this last album ['Day And Age'], there’s been a noticeable shift but we’re still nowhere near where we are in Europe.”

There are plenty of amusing things about this, but we’ll stick with these: 1. Led Zeppelin are British, and 2. Since when did someone liking Nirvana or Led Zep keep them from liking new music? Well, if it’s good new music, that is.

At last, the Lollapalooza rumors are put to rest — Depeche Mode, Tool, The Killers, Beastie Boys, Kings of Leon and (of course) Jane’s Addiction will be headlining this year’s festival, along with an impressive cast of supporting bands, Lollapalooza organizers confirmed today.

More than 100 bands/artists/DJs will take the Lolla stage this year, including TV on the Radio, Vampire Weekend, Andrew Bird, Animal Collective, Arctic Monkeys, Fleet Foxes, Silversun Pickups, Bon Iver, Crystal Castles, Los Campesinos! and Passion Pit. This year’s event will also introduce “Perry’s”, a nightclub style stage featuring dance and electronic music. The DJs set to spin include MSTRKRFT, Bassnectar, DeadMau5, Animal Collective and Bloody Beetroots.

After selling out last year for the first time since Lollapalooza took roots in Chicago, ticket sales don’t seem to be lagging. Early bird discount passes went on sale at the end of March for $195. Regular priced tickets are $205, and of course if you’re not like the rest of us, worrying about saving $10 on a $200 concert ticket, you can always check out the VIP options at Lollapalooza.com.

Lollapalooza 2009
Depeche Mode
Tool
The Killers
Jane’s Addiction
Beastie Boys
Kings of Leon
Lou Reed
Ben Harper and Relentless 7
Thievery Corporation
Snoop Dogg
Rise Against
Andrew Bird
TV on the Radio
Vampire Weekend
The Decemberists
Neko Case
STS9 (Sound Tribe Sector 9)
Animal Collective
Band of Horses
Of Montreal
Arctic Monkeys
Coheed and Cambria
Ben Folds
Fleet Foxes
Silversun Pickups
Kaiser Chiefs
Crystal Castles
Bon Iver
Santigold
Atmosphere
Dan Auberbach
Cold War Kids
Deerhunter
Lykke Li
Robert Earl Keen
Peter Bjorn and John
Heartless Bastards
Gomez
Glasvegas
Federico Aubele
Dan Deacon
Passion Pit
The Raveonettes
The Gaslight Anthem
The Airborne Toxic Event
White Lies
Ra Ra Riot
No Age
Asher Roth
Los Campesinos!
Bat For Lashes
Chairlift
Gang Gang Dance
The Virgins
Amazing Baby
Portugal. The Man
The Knux
Ida Maria
Delta Spirit
Friendly Fires
Manchester Orchestra
Constantines
Ezra Furman & The Harpoons
Hockey
Miike Snow
Alberta Cross
Hey Champ
Sam Roberts Band
The Henry Clay People
Davy Knowles and Back Door Slam
Cage the Elephant
Living Things
The Low Anthem
Blind Pilot
Langhorne Slim
Other Lives
The Builders and The Butchers
Eric Church
Joe Pug
Kevin Devine
The Green Cards
Carney
Thenewno2

Featured performers at Perry’s
Bassnectar
MSTRKRFT
Simian Mobile Disco
DeadMau5
Boys Noise
KiD CuDi
Crookers
A-Trak
Hercules and Love Affair (DJ Set)
The Bloody Beetroots (DJ Set)
LA Riots
Kaskade
The Glitch Mob
Hollywood Holt
Rye Rye
He Say, She Say
Car Stereo (Wars)
Dark Wave Disco
Moneypenny
Yello Fever
Animal Collective (DJ Set)

If speaking ill of the dead is taboo, where do we land on speaking ill of dead legendary rock stars? Brandon Flowers is about to find out, as comments The Killers‘ lead singer made about the grunge movement and its revered leader, Kurt Cobain, were published today and are already making waves across the web.

Today’s NME Daily Gossip found this little gem in UK tabloid The Daily Star: “I don’t mean it in a bad way, but I think Kurt Cobain and grunge took the fun out of rock ’n roll,” Flowers said. “Everything’s changing, though, and it’s starting to become a lot more playful and brighter.”

To add insult to injury, Flowers’ comments come almost 15 years to the day after Cobain’s tragic suicide — he took his own life April 5, 1994. Flowers also took some time out from his busy schedule to slag off Americans in general: “Everywhere but America our new album Day & Age has grabbed people. Review wise, Sam’s Town got slapped around but did really well in America. We’re learning that they like the guitar Killers, whereas you guys in the UK and the rest of the world have got this more melodic pop-orientated album. Kings Of Leon filled that guitar spot nicely in America but they don’t have a song like ‘Human’.”

Funny, aren’t Kings Of Leon bigger in the UK too?

Yesterday we told you about the tensions bubbling between members of The Killers due in part to their hectic, non-stop touring schedule, but it doesn’t look like they will be taking any time off at any point soon. The band has just added New Hampshire quartet, Wild Light, to the touring bill, which will kick off later this month.

The Killers will be playing 10 cities with Wild Light starting on April 17. Wild Light themselves have already been on a roll with touring; accompanied Tapes ‘n Tapes — Wild Light’s first national tour, which they were nice enough to shoot exclusive flipcam footage of for us. We guess we’ll just have to wait and see if The Killers can get through tour without a melt down, but maybe adding Wild Light into the mix will be the saving grace for the Vegas band.

The Killers tour dates w/ Wild Light
04.17.09 – Las Vegas, NV (The Joint)
04.19.09 – San Jose, CA (San Jose Event Center)
04.22.09 – Seattle, WA (WaMu Theatre)
04.23.09 – Victoria, BC (Save oOn Foods Memorial Centre)
04.24.09 – Vancouver, BC (UBC Thunderbird Arena)
04.26.09 – Calgary, AB (Pengrowth Saddledome)
04.27.09 – Edmonton, AB (Rexall Place)
04.30.09 – Milwaukee, WI (The Eagles Club)
05.01.09 – Indianapolis, IN (Murat Theatre)
05.02.09 – Bonner Springs, KS (Capitol Federal Park)

Apparently Brandon Flowers’ growing rage over the misunderstanding of his lyrics has finally taken its toll on The Killers — word in the rumor mill is that the bandmates have had just about enough of each other.

According to UK tabloid The Daily Mirror, a “band insider” said that the strain between the guys was caused by their relentless touring schedule. “They’re exhausted. They haven’t had a break since they first formed and it has started getting to them,” the source said. “When they started out they were all good friends, but they just don’t seem to get on any more. They are sick of the sight of each other.”

But apparently we can’t actually blame Brandon Flowers for this, because it seems he might just be the glue holding them all together. “Brandon tries to be a peacemaker but when he loses it the whole band falls apart,” the source said. “They know taking a break could damage their career but they can’t see a way out and they don’t want to split.”

Of course, a spokesperson for the band was quick to defend, saying they weren’t breaking up or taking a break any time soon.

By now, the rehab jokes have gotten old, but Amy Winehouse just can’t seem to keep herself out of trouble. So with a highly anticipated Coachella performance just over a month away, it somehow doesn’t strike us as surprising that the soul singer has been forced to pull out of the California music festival.

According to her spokesman, Winehouse has been unable to get a work visa to travel to the United States in time to perform at this year’s Coachella. She was set to perform on April 18 with the likes of Paul McCartney and The Killers, but just as she couldn’t obtain a work visa to perform at the 2008 Grammy Awards — she was in rehab for drug use — she is now facing charges of assault, which are preventing the singer from making this appearance.

The frail-boned, bee-hive donning singer was charged with common assault after an incident at a ball in London’s Berkeley Square last year, according to Reuters. The singer has a hearing for the assault case later this month, on March 17 at Westminister Magistrates’ Court. Unfortunately for the Grammy award winning Winehouse, her talent has been largely overlooked within the past few years because of her crazy-girl antics stealing the heat from her success. Coachella organizers have not yet said who will replace the singer at this year’s festival, but we sure are going to miss out on her performance.

It’s a bit like running through razor blades then diving into a swimming pool full of rubbing alcohol when a band takes on groups like The Cure, Bloc Party, Jane’s Addiction, New Order and Franz Ferdinand: the chances of catastrophe and painful death are magnified by 47 million.

Many acts have tried to ape their heroes and have failed miserably (see Bauhaus doppelgangers She Wants Revenge). The Killers have attempted to mug U2, Springsteen and Joy Division for their sound and the results have, for the most part, been more lukewarm than killer. The one-time touted second coming of rock, The Strokes, attempted to borrow from the Television and Lou Reed songbooks and quicker than you can say “Marquee Moon” the band went the way of the dodo bird.

But sometimes, when the clouds part, the seas grow calm and beasts large and small live together in harmony, a band that covets their influences and shapes said influences into something all their own comes along. That band in this case is Kansas City, Missouri’s, Queens Club.

QC first began gathering attention through their expansive live shows and a strong push from Kansas City alternative rock radio station 96.5 The Buzz, specifically the Sunday evening local music showcase Homegrown Buzz. Early last year the newly formed band (Tyler Bottles – bass, Jake Ryan – drums/ programming, Daniel Eaton – vocals/guitars and Andrew Nichols – guitars/vocals/programming) became a local sensation with their debut single “Nightmarer” and word of mouth was so strong that late last year they did a showcase for the record label Tooth and Nail.

Though no deal is set as of yet, Tyler Bottles told me that they are optimistic. “We’re really hoping to get signed, every band that makes music wants to have their music heard. But if we don’t, we’ll release it ourselves and see what happens.”

The album, so far untitled, is a perfect storm of Euro dance rock, indie sophistication and a sprinkling of punk rock’s filth and fury snottiness (see the pummeling track “I’m American”); all aspects of the Queens Club dynamic fit together smoothly like cogs in a well oiled machine. It’s almost frightening to me that a band that’s only been together a little over a year can kick out a debut this tight, well written and infectious. Yes, the clouds have parted, dogs are living peacefully with their feline friends and the rock Gods have smiled on this Midwestern band. Take my advice: When they come to your town, go and see them in the club because soon enough, they’ll be selling out stadiums.

Listen to Queen’s Club here.

Noel Fielding wants Robert Smith to guest star in the upcoming Mighty Boosh film, Damon Albarn and Graham Coxon shared the stage for the first time in a decade and Pete Doherty said he has ways of convincing Carl Barat to reunite The Libertines. Yes, it was all going down at the NME Shockwave awards. But, honestly — can you expect any less from a program that sends its winners home with a giant bronzed middle finger?

The award categories in last night’s ceremony ranged from the standard stuff (Best International Band went to The Killers, while Best British Band went to Oasis) to the slightly more whimsical (the award for Godlike Genius went to Robert Smith and The Cure) to the completely out of place (Villain of the year for the sixth year running was George W. Bush, with Hero of the Year going to President Barack Obama, because apparently even the British would’ve Baracked the vote, had they been allowed the opportunity).

But in between giving out top honors for wardrobe choices, both best (Alexa Chung) and worst (Amy Winehouse), there were some notable happenings. The most notable, of course, was the on-stage reunion of Damon Albarn and Graham Coxon. Their first time playing together in nearly a decade, they performed a stripped-down version of “This Is a Low.” Albarn said the preparations for the impending Blur reunion are going well, and that they’re “taking it really easy …. just doing it once a week and enjoying it — playing every album, every song.”

But they weren’t the only ones talking reunions — not shockingly, Pete Doherty still has dollar signs (or probably pound signs, really) floating in front of his eyes and is determined to cash in on a Libertines reunion. Doherty took home the award for Best Solo Artist last night, and told NME that he will convince Carl Barat to get the band back together. The two did a joint interview in which Barat didn’t seem as adamant as he was before that a reunion was out of the question. Doherty said he would twist his arm. Literally.

It was also a big night for The Cure, with the band taking home the award for Godlike Genius (presented by Tim Burton, for no other discernable reason than that he looks eerily like Robert Smith), and Noel Fielding of The Mighty Boosh declaring his desire to have Robert Smith play his uncle in the upcoming Mighty Boosh film. The show won the award for Best TV Show.

And then there was Dizzie Rascal, who proved you can actually be completely unaware you were nominated for an award and still take one home.

Finally, it must be said: any award show that a.) has categories for the worst band and worst album of the year and b.) gives both of those awards to The Jonas Brothers, is a-okay in our book.

With Coachella just a month and a half away fans have been swarming the event’s message boards, posting their discontent about The Killers headlining Saturday night. Generally speaking, Coachella enlists acts of epic proportions to headline the event, so rumors have been circulating that the less-than-epic Las Vegas rockers are just holding Saturday night’s spot until a bigger name is released to surprise fans.

Who could it possibly be? According to The Daily Swarm, rumors have been flying rampant about a possible David Bowie performance, or even Bruce Springsteen and Metallica. We’re thinking the possibilities of Mr. Springsteen playing are slim, as he’s headlining Bonnaroo this year. We sure wouldn’t mind hearing Metallica headline, and a Bowie performance would be beyond epic.

Even if Coachella doesn’t announce a new headliner for Saturday night, if some fans get their way, you can look forward to some hilarious entertainment on the Conservative Talk Radio Stage. Sean Hannity, Mark Levin, Rush Limbaugh, and Bill O’Reilly are among the few conservative radio personalities sought out by fans on the message board.

Coldplay and The Killers must have made New Year’s Resolutions to be more like Bono — they’re hitting Shepherds Bush Empire in February for a one-night-only charity gig to benefit War Child. Mostly all we know so far is that it’s supposed to be super intimate, with you and 2,000 of your best friends. All good deeds and charities aside, they need to take a hint from Morrissey on how to make a show intimate.

Tickets for the February 18 gig are £50 each, and they’ll be available for very lucky fans through a lottery system. The lottery opens for entries at 9 a.m. tomorrow (that’s 4 a.m. EST), through the War Child web site.

War Child works to protect children in war zones. The concert actually celebrates the charity’s 15th anniversary and the release of the album Heroes, which is out on February 16 and features tons of big names (Hot Chip, TV On The Radio, Elbow, etc.) re-recording tracks to benefit the organization.

Of the gig, Coldplay said: In our eyes, War Child is one of the world’s most important charities, and The Killers are one of our favourite bands, so playing this concert is an absolute pleasure for us.

Not to be outdone, The Killers added: Coldplay were one of the bands that gave us hope when we were just four boys in a garage. To share the stage with them for the War Child cause is an honour.

Coldplay might have topped the BRITs nominations list with four nods, but our choice for best week ever goes to blues man Seasick Steve. He not only became the oldest artist ever nominated for a BRIT award this week, but also announced he’s getting ready to work with Jack White.

Seasick Steve made the announcement at the BRITs nomination party. Of course, he also admitted that prior to being nominated he’d actually never heard of the BRITs. At 67 years old he takes the cake for oldest ever nominee, shortlisted in the Best International Male category. Poor Steve is up against Beck, Kanye West, Jay-Z and Neil Diamond. But apparently he tests well with the British, and has for a while now — he won the 2007 MOJO award for best breakthrough act — so we have our fingers crossed.

Other than Steve, Coldplay pulled a Grammy repeat, scoring four nominations. They tied with soul songstress Duffy (whose album beat them out for best-seller in the UK in 2008) at the top of the heap, with Adele, Elbow and Scouting for Girls close behind at three nods each.

Radiohead, Girls Aloud, Estelle and the Ting Tings grabbed two noms each, with Radiohead and the Ting Tings competing against Coldplay and Elbow for best British album.

The nominees for both the best international group and best international album awards are AC/DC, Fleet Foxes, the Killers, Kings of Leon and MGMT. The best international female category (the counterpart to Seasick Steve’s nomination bunch) features Beyonce, Gabriella Cilmi, Katy Perry, Pink and Santogold.

The BRITs are also bringing back the award for best producer, last given at the ceremony in 1998. The nominees — Bernard Butler, Brian Eno and Steve Mac — will find out their fate a little sooner than everyone else, as the award will be presented at the Music Producers Guild Awards on Feb. 12.

The rest of them will be handed out on February 18 in London. The only artist who can count on taking home a trophy is Florence and the Machine, who is the winner of the 2009 Critics’ Choice award, chosen annually by a media panel. Well, her and the Pet Shop Boys, who will be recognized in the outstanding contribution to music category. You can check out the full list of nominations here.

U2, the Pet Shop Boys, Kings Of Leon, Duffy and Girls Aloud will perform at the awards ceremony.