Anthrax, Fall Out Boy, Every Time I Die Supergroup The Damned Things Make Live Debut

Not from New York? You can now check the band online and also see them in Europe this summer. The band launched their MySpace page last Friday and the page picked up more than 25,000 plays over the holiday weekend for the rough mixes of "We've Got A Situation Here" and "Ironiclast," two tracks from their upcoming debut album on the Island Records, which was produced by Trohman and Caggianoi, and recorded mostly in Brooklyn, where Anthrax lives, with side trips to Buffalo, NY (Buckley's home), and Chicago (Trohman, Hurley) � will be announced in the weeks ahead.

The Damned Things will be at Rock Am Ring in Nurburgring, Germany, on June 4th, kicking off a round of European shows. They will be stopping for shows in Denmark (Rock Im Park, June 5th); Brussels (Vk, June 6th); Amsterdam (a free show at Melkweg, June 8th); London (Heaven, June 10th); and Copenhagen (Copenhell, June 12th); before wrapping it up at the Download Festival in Donnington (UK), June 13th.

"Whoa, black betty (bam-A-lam)," sang Ram Jam on their 1977 hit single version of the Lead Belly tune. "Whoa, black betty (bam-A-lam)/ Black betty had a child (bam-A-lam)/ The damn thing gone wild (bam-A-lam)�" The Damned Things took their name from the song as a means to convey their gutsy intentions, which goes back to Trohman's original hook-up with Scott Ian three years ago. "We were both interested in putting together a heavy/classic-rock, blues-oriented, riff-based band," Trohman says, "while trying to stay away from what makes that sound generic and overplayed."

Trohman and Hurley share roots in pre-Fall Out Boy heavy metal bands; Caggiano soon joined his bandmate Scott in the new venture. The Damned Things were whole when Buckley accepted their invitation to front the group. One listen to "We've Got A Situation Here" answers all the questions. "Musically, it's a good representation of the band," says Trohman. "It has the sludgy riffs, but there's a catchy chorus, a tempo change breakdown, and some leads/solos. There's a real bluesy feel to the verses. [It's] everything the group stands for."