Punk's not dead. Punk's not dead. I can't say it enough. Icky & the Yuks, local purveyors of the old brand of punk rock that got the genre kicking decades ago, celebrate the release of their second CD, Same Shit, Different Day. The release party, which will be held at the Launchpad on Saturday, May 8, at 8 p.m., will also serve as a tour kickoff party (the tour will begin on May 12, and hit cities such as San Francisco, Long Beach, San Diego, Los Angeles and Phoenix). The evening will include performances by Albuquerque's best hard rock and punk bands—including Beefcake in Chains, Fivehundred, Black Maria, Dead on Point 5, The United, Coke is Better with Bourbon. CDs will cost $5, and a $5 cover will be charged at the door. Same Shit is faster and harder that the group's first CD, and includes some of the same songs—but now they're studio versions. Singer/screamer Richard Trott readily admits: "It's a great sounding record." For more Icky information, visit www.ickyandtheyuks.com. ... The First Annual New Mexico Music Festival will be held at EXPO New Mexico (New Mexico State Fairgrounds) on Saturday, May 8, Entertainment will be provided by musicians who reside in our great state: Robby "Jude," Street Scene, Crystal Renee, Mike & the Wild Bunch, Agua Negra, Juntos Unidos, Amber Anaya, Jerome Grant and many others. Tickets cost $15 a pair in advance and $10 each at the door. Children under 10 get in free. Tickets are available by calling J.R. "Juice" Padilla at 463-4314.

with Morbid Angel, Satyricon and Premonitions of War

Friday, May 7; Sunshine Theater (all ages, 8 p.m.): Innovation has its downside. Just ask any of the three original members of death metal pioneers Suffocation. By the time the New York City band released their now classic EP, Despise the Sun, in 1998, the unique sound they had cultivated—a brutal mixture of speed metal, hardcore and classic metal—had in turn cultivated countless copycat bands. With the death metal scene becoming saturated by Suffocation sound-alikes and the genre itself seemingly nearing demise, the band that single-handedly created the New York death sound threw in the towel at the turn of the millennium.

By Divine Right are Canada's answer to Ohio's Guided By Voices, both in terms of having a former band member roster well into double digits and that kind of vaguely psychedelic power pop that can make you downright ecstatic. Jose Contreras, BDR's lone remaining founding member, writes with a Pollard-like grasp of imagery and Wayne Coyne's sense of slippery little melodies that work their way into your psyche and refuse to leave, leading you instead on a blissful ride through kaleidoscopic pop. Sweet Confusion is BDR's best effort to date. Buy it and fall instantly in love.