SPOCK'S BEARD drummer/vocalist Nick D'Virgilio, who recently wrapped up a tour sitting behind the kit for TEARS FOR FEARS, has posted the following update The Beard's official website:

"Hello all. It has been a long time. I have been on the road with TFF, and we just finished our short tour the day after Thanksgiving in Tucson, Arizona. It was the last gig, so there were some funny things going on. Like the crew going up and taking pieces of the opening band's drum set WHILE THEY WERE STILL PLAYING!! It was hilarious, actually. They didn't take everything, just a few pieces. The look on the drummer's face was classic. There was the usual Talcum Powder on the drums. I came back to play the encore and Gruno had put about five pounds of gummy bears all over my kit. So I then threw them back at him. Oh yeah...REVENGE!! All in all, it was a fun tour. Too bad I have no idea what is happening from this point. They don't have any more dates booked. Back to the ol' feast or famine routine that is my career.

On to the real reason I am writing. I was over at Stan's house yesterday watching the video he is making for the bonus disc of Octane. It is really, really great. Very funny with some interesting things thrown in. I think you will all like it. He is going above and beyond the call of duty on this thing, and it's turning out fantastic. The video is the final piece of the puzzle for the new CD. We are ready to go now.

We will be ready for pre-orders through this site by the middle of December. We are also looking into dates for touring. We will do our best to play everywhere we can. I know you have all heard that before, but there are some interesting things in the works that might actually get us to more cities then usual, especially in the US. So let's all keep our fingers crossed that everything works out.

There are a couple of new samples to check out. The first is from the instrumental 'NWC'. Before you ask, 'NWC' means whatever YOU want it to. On a lot of the old records I grew up with, there was always at least one great instrumental. So that is what I set out to do and 'NWC' is what came out. It's up to you to decide if it is great or not, but I like it.

The other sample is from the track 'The Planet's Hum', a collaboration of Stan Ausmus (our video guy and co-writer of "The Bottom Line" from FE), big Al Morse, and little ol' me. One of my favorites from the CD.

All right people, have a great holiday season and I wish you all lots of love and happiness. - NDV

PS: Ryo and Al are out on road starting this week. Get out there a support them if you can."

As previously reported, Spock's Beard will release their new album, Octane, on January 25, 2005. It's a collection of 12 new songs. The first seven songs form an epic song-cycle called 'A Flash Before My Eyes'. Then, there are five more tracks. There's also going to be a special edition package released with a bonus disc that contains another five brand new tracks, three little outtake pieces from Flash, and a QuickTime video.

The track list of the album is as follows: 'A Flash Before My Eyes' - 'The Ballet Of The Impact', 'I Wouldn't Let Go', 'Surfing Down The Avalanche', 'She Is Everything', 'Climbing Up That Hill', 'Letting Go', 'Of The Beauty Of It All', 'NWC', 'There Was A Time', 'The Planet's Hum', 'Watching The Tide', 'As Long As We Ride'.

Special Edition Bonus Disc: 'When She's Gone, 'Follow Me To Sleep', 'Game Face', 'Broken Promise Land', 'Listening To The Sky', 'Someday I'll Be Found', 'I Was Never Lost', 'Paint Me A Picture', The Formulation Of Octane (video).