The Australian band Sick Puppies made big strides, commercially and critically, with their 2009 album Tri-Polar. Can they continue the trend with their new disc? We'll find out on July 16 when the trio release Connect.

As for what the album might sound like, frontman Shim Moore recently spoke with Loudwire, saying, "It's a louder record, but we went for a different sound in terms of the layering of the guitars. So there aren't as many guitars, but the ones that we do have we've turned up a lot more. So if that gives you an idea, it's a louder record but it's much more musical."

Truth be told, some of the best moments on Tri-Polar were the more musical and melodic. If Sick Puppies have figured out how to meld volume with their sharp melodic sense, they might really have something. In less than two months, we'll know.

Connect Track List:

• "Die to Save You"
• "There's No Going Back"
• "Walking Away"
• "Gunfight"
• "Poison"
• "Where Did the Time Go"
• "Telling Lies"
• "Connect"
• "Run"
• "The Trick the Devil Did"
• "Healing Now"
• "Under a Very Black Sky"

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Photo courtesy EMI.

Ever since Stone Temple Pilots decided to fire Scott Weiland, there's been curiosity about what the musicians would do without him. (Those wonders only increased after the vocalist made it clear that he may need to take legal action to keep them from using the band name without him.) Well, the drama deepened Saturday night when the Weiland-less STP played a show with Chester Bennington, the singer from Linkin Park.

The show in question was the KROQ Weenie Roast in Los Angeles, where the band unveiled a new song, "Out of Time." They've also recorded the track with Bennington, and once you hear it you'll notice that he sounds an awful like Weiland on it.

The STP members haven't yet announced any sort of album plans, but guitarist Dean DeLeo did tell KROQ, "We know Linkin Park will always be [Bennington's] priority, but we thought it would be cool to try something together. We managed to find the time to record a song and we're all really happy with the result."

If they try to release this song for sale on iTunes or elsewhere, though, how will they bill themselves? Do they get themselves in legal hot water if they keep calling themselves Stone Temple Pilots? It might be funny if they opted for Stone Temple Park or Linkin Pilots instead.

Update: It looks like Stone Temple Pilots are serious about having Bennington as their vocalist. They've even doing promotional photos with the guy.

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Photo: Chapman Baehler.

Back in February when it was revealed that Trent Reznor was going to be reactivating Nine Inch Nails for a new tour, I noted that it wouldn't necessarily be the same lineup as it had been at previous times in the band's run -- and that it probably didn't matter one way or the other. "This reunited NIN will feature a new lineup, though, including former Jane's Addiction bassist Eric Avery, although for most fans, this band starts and ends with Reznor," I wrote at the time. Well, even if most people associate Nine Inch Nails with just Reznor, there's been some changes to the band this week as they prepare to start touring in July.

First came word that Avery was pulling out of NIN. On Wednesday, the bassist took to his Facebook page to say, "its been a tough call and i don't know if its the right one. but i really want to focus on my musical life here in la, on film work in particular. as the tour dates kept growing... i just got overwhelmed." The reason for his decision stemmed from having just gotten off the road with Garbage, which he called "a year of heavy travel." This, by the way, isn't the first time he's pulled the plug on a band. Back in 2010 as Jane's was getting things back together, he tweeted that he was dropping out of the group before they started working on their new album, which would eventually become The Great Escape Artist.

But then on Friday, somebody new was added to the NIN lineup. It's not a bassist, though -- It's Robin Finch, a guitarist who has been part of Nine Inch Nails in the past. "The addition of Robin to the mix of players I've assembled makes this band incredibly powerful and versatile," Reznor wrote as part of the announcement. "We are deep in the rehearsal process and it feels exciting and great to be back at this."

So if you're keeping score at home, that means the NIN touring lineup consists of guitarist Adrian Belew, keyboardist Alessandro Cortini, keyboardist Josh Eustis, guitarist Robin Finck, drummer Ilan Rubin, and Trent Reznor. They're doing two dates in Asia at the end of July, and then it's back to the States for a performance at Lollapalooza in August. For a look at what else is on their tour itinerary, best head over to the band's website.

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Photo: Rob Sheridan.

The new movie adaptation of The Great Gatsby is well on its way to making more than $100 million at the box office (and that's just in the U.S.), so it shouldn't be a surprise that its soundtrack has been a big hit as well. The Billboard Rock Charts welcomed the album with open arms, but they still also had plenty of love for Imagine Dragons and their double-platinum smash "Radioactive." Of the three singles charts that we track, it's been at No. 1 on all of them for at least eight weeks, a really impressive feat. Just think if the Las Vegas group had a song in The Great Gatsby. Check out my rundown of this week's Rock Charts to see where your favorite tunes and albums ranked.

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Photo courtesy Total Assault.