The CHARMS have landed big-shot garage-rock producer Jim Diamond (White Stripes, Electric Six) to produce their next album. Recording begins in June at his Ghetto Recorders studio in Detroit. This weekend the band hit the beach for three Florida shows presented by Little Steven’s Underground Garage, sharing a stage with the Romantics, the Fleshtones, the Forty-Fives, and the Shazam. They’ll launch a three-week Midwest tour on April 13. A new DVD, Easy Trouble (Red Car), is due in May, with videos, interviews, and tour footage. And they’ll return home in time for the “Good Sports: 3rd Annual Legends of the Ball” benefit May 4 at the Roxy. . . . New-wave rockers PROTOKOLL have signed a deal with London-based Illicit Recordings for a UK-only single. The single will feature two songs, “Moving Forward” and “Holy Divine,” from the Protokoll EP, which was recorded by Rafi Sofer at Somerville’s Q Division studios. The release will coincide with a three-week UK tour with London’s Veto Silver that wraps up in London on May 26 at KOKO, a venue that has recently hosted shows by Bloc Party and the Buzzocks. Catch the lads before they hop the pond at T.T. the Bear’s Place with EYES LIKE KNIVES on April 8, or at their UK sendoff show May 4 at Great Scott. . . . Horror-obsessed madmen WILD ZERO unleash their Wild Zero debut on an unwitting public at the Abbey Lounge this Saturday, April 1. Recorded by Marc Schleicher and Nick Zampiello, the album features eight tracks of pure punk rock. “We’re a five-piece,” says singer Clay Count von N. Ferno. “That means two guitars are doing exactly what you want them to do, RIPPING!” Highlights include “Sex Tarp” and “Get in the Tub,” which “are about somewhat disturbing sex stories that may or may not have happened to Wild Zero band mates or close acquaintances of the band.”

On the Web:
On the Download: //www.thephoenix.com/onthedownload
The Charms: //thecharms.net/
Protokoll: //protokoll.us/
Wild Zero: //www.wildzerorock.com/

Email the author:
Sarah Tomlinson: stomlins@mindspring.com