This Week in Music: July 22, 2012

This week has been an unexpectedly big one in the music world, news-wise. Thankfully, we here at Blast have been keeping up as best we can (thanks, Twitter!) and have rounded up what we think you should know.

• On Monday, Green Day released “Oh Love” (an an accompanying video with lyrics on YouTube). It marks their – see if you can follow this – first single from the first album of their upcoming trilogy. For fans in the know, that just means it’s the first single (and reportedly the last track) from “¡Uno!”, which drops September 25.
•  That same morning, 90s-ska-turned-pseudo-dance-pop outfit No Doubt released their own first single of sorts: “Settle Down”, with an accompanying music video, is the first taste of the band’s first material since 2001’s “Rock Steady”. Coincidentally, that album – “Push and Shove” – drops September 25, too.
•  Mumford and Sons have announced that their next album, “Babel”, is set to drop September 24. This will be the follow-up to 2009’s “Sigh No More”, which brought the band into the spotlight with tracks like “The Cave” and “Little Lion Man”. Check out the track listing they’ve posted on their website – and, as a bonus, do yourself a favor and listen to their cover of Simon and Garfunkle’s “The Boxer”, featured on Jerry Douglas’s latest.
• The Who – including founding members Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey –  have announced plans to tour North America, performing their 1973 rock opera “Quadrophenia”. To top it off, the tour wraps up in Rhode Island, at the site of a canceled 1979 gig; the band and venue management recently announced that any fan with a ticket to that show can redeem it for admission to its 2013 counterpart.
• Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl has released another teaser for his upcoming documentary, “Sound City”, about the famed L.A. recording studio of the same name. It features Tom Petty, Trent Reznor, and two-time Grohl collaborator Butch Vig, just a few of a slew of interviewees that the rock doc is set to include. Catch it here.
• Flea, bassist for funk-rock pioneers Red Hot Chili Peppers, will soon be releasing a solo EP that he describes as “a mostly instrumental, weird and arty record.” “Helen Burns” can be purchased online, with a twist – fans can pay as much or as little for the album as they wish, with proceeds going to the nonprofit Silverlake Conservatory of Music.
• Beck will contribute three previously unreleased songs to the upcoming video game “Sound Shapes” for Playstation 3.  “Cities,” “Touch the People” and “Spiral Staircase” will each be featured during game play.