In indie news this week, Pete Doherty could be penniless, Burn Lounge comes to Canada, Leeds indie band International Trust's new EP, The McDades tour and Joe McAlinden.

• Featured news: Pete Doherty low on funds / Burn Lounge prepares for launch in Canada / International Trust ready the follow-up to cult hit "Bruce Lee" / The McDades have fun in Mexico / Joe McAlinden in Quit Mystery

Pete Doherty On Skid Row (Allegedly)

Although hailed by many as a songwriting genius (although just as many, if not more, put his success down to the superior abilities of Carl Barat), Pete Doherty has never really attained commercial success. Sure, his band with former cohort Barat, The Libertines, were quite rightly hailed as an important part of British indie music, but they could never be classed as a band who sold millions of albums before the acrimonious split between Doherty and Barat.

Now, with his solo project Babyshambles struggling under the increasingly erratic and damaging behaviour of Doherty - continuous brushes with the law for drug abuse, spending more time with on-off girlfriend Kate Moss than his bandmates, failure to appear for gigs, etc - news has leaked that Doherty is broke. Indeed, on the last Babyshambles tour, the band made a LOSS of over 20,000 GBP. Although Babyshambles have now signed to Parlophone, it's a safe bet that if the next album bombs, it'll be the end of the road for Doherty. Still, he could always be Kate Moss's house husband...

Burn Lounge Arrives In Canada

Already an extremely popular and successful venture in the United States, new music download and distribution store Burn Lounge is preparing for a mid-May launch in Canada. A rival to Apple and its prohibitive i-Tunes distribution service, Burn Lounge improves on this by giving back more profit to the bands, as well as allowing fans of a band to open their own free store and sell their music online. With major names such as EMI and Sony getting behind the venture, this could well be the next step in digital music.

International Trust Are Back

Following the success of their cult debut single Bruce Lee, UK power pop band International Trust follow this up with a new EP called Talk Of The Town. Due out on May 4th via new label Red Lace Records, the EP includes title track Talk Of The Town, which recalls fellow Northern band The Macc Lads, and new song Disneyland, a punky ska-like song about an upcoming trip to the famous American resort, complete with singalong chorus full of trumpets and horns. Currently on a tour throughout the summer, International Trust continue to defy skeptics with their brand of short, snappy in-your-face pop.

The McDades Hit Their Festival Stride

With latest album Bloom receiving both critical praise and commercial success, the much-loved The McDades are due to play this weekend's Ollinkan - Festival Internacional de las Culturas en Resistancia at the Bosque de Tlalpan in Mexico City. Featuring the best in South American and World Music, it takes place on April 27th and promises to be a diverse and interesting weekend. Following this, the Juno Award winners fly out to Scotland for the Shetland Folk Festival, before playing at various folk festivals throughout Canada in August.

Joe McAlinden To Call It Quits?

Speculation is rife that cult Scottish singer-songwriter Joe McAlinden is quitting the music industry altogether. His latest blog on MySpace mysteriously refers to him being numb, followed by a series of question marks and the words "I quit". With no elaboration, fans of this talented songsmith are now wondering if lack of recognition has finally taken its toll on Joe. If the rumours are true, this would be a sad day for indie indeed.

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