Crocodiles / Dum Dum Girls - 'Merry Christmas Baby (Please Don't Die)'

Crocodiles and Dum Dum Girls have recorded a doozy of a Christmas jingle. 'Merry Christmas Baby (Please Don't Die)' sounds like it could have been written for the Phil Spector Christmas LP. Written over egg nog and Jamaican mistletoe, and recorded with Crocs longtime collaborator Jon Greene, these fools have made a timeless xmas classic.

Listen to it on Stereogum and Crocodiles' Myspace things NOW!

Can 'Silent Night'

Mute Records is giving us an early Christmas gift. Go over to their site to listen to Can's Silent Night now. Cuz it's perfect.

San Diego / NYE2010

Shake yr nalgas all nite long and watch Dick Clark on the giant screen. All that for a measly 5 bucks. Yr basically robbing us blind.

San Diego / Abe Vigoda, Best Coast, Zola Jesus - Jan 7

Flier by Anthony Gerace/Friends Explode



What a perfect way to set the goddamn tone for twenty ten. Line-ups don't get any better than this. Looking forward to the magic.

Raekwon 'Pyrex Vison'

The blog Nah Right posted this video nugget of gold a day ago. It's a video from Raekwon's 'Only Built For Cuban Linx 2'. Pyrex Vision. I haven't even heard this whole album because I can't find it on vinyl. Is it not out on vinyl? When they were on Jimmy Fallon, he had a big 12" cover in his hands. WTF. Am I really going to have to buy mp3 or cd? I'm not gainst those formats, but I have a sense this would be the kind of album I'd want to own on vinyl. Anyway, check out the coke and naked girl hi-jinks above.

Too Many (X-Mas) Creeps / This Sunday!

This Sunday, our weekly night, Too Many Creeps is going all Chistmas-y. Squeezed in between all the post punk & weirdo music will be 'Feliz Navidad (I Wanna Wish You A Merry Christmas', 'All I Want For Christmas Is You', 'Do They Know It's Christmas', etc, etc. Also, Chuck's gonna bring his trusty Santa hat cuz it just works for him. My mom lent me one of her silly Christmas sweaters and I think Brandon's mom tossed in a couple for him and Chaz. Ah, this is all useless info but whatever. Just come and it's be a blast! Oh,and there'll be mistletoe all over the goddamn place. FREE. Oh one last thing, there'll be a ton of free pizza from Luigi's, the best pizza in San Diego.

The Pastels 'Comin' Through' / More Perfection

I've spoken about 'em before, but a little more could never hurt. I love The Pastels and I'm super psyched to have stumbled upon this cool ass video for 'Comin' Through'.






Also, if you're bored, and want more, which you should, check this interview with Stephen Pastel and see why he's kind of a badass.

Best Coast / ABC News Story

ABC News released this video story on Best Coast today as part of their series, Amplified. It features all kinds of cool footage including footage from Art Fag Fest (more footage will be out soon..). Check it out here.

Best Coast / Pitchfork Top 100 Tracks Of 2009

Best Coast got some mad props today from Pitchfork. Kinda cool. Read about numbers 100-51 here, and the rest of the list will be posted tomorrow...

December / January / February In San Diego & LA

There are some updates and brand new crap...

December 20 - Too Many (Christmas) Creeps - punk, indie and yuletide jingles w/ DJs Mario Orduno, Brandon Welchez & Sir Charles. @ The Whistle Stop. (FREE)

December 24 - Christmas Eve - 100% xmas jams and santa hats. Chuck's wearing antlers. DJs Sir Charles & Mario Orduno. @ The Whistle Stop. (FREE)

December 31 - New Year's Eve. Soul, 60s, rock steady & oldies dance party. DJs Marion Ordundo, Bwandon Wewlchez & Sir Charlie. @ The Whistle Stop. ($5)

January 1 - Mika Miko final show. DJ Mario Orduno. @ The Smell (Los Angeles). ($TBA)

January 7 - Abe Vigoda, Best Coast, & Zola Jesus. DJs Mario Orduno, Sir Chuck & Branson Welchex. @ The Soda Bar ($TBA)

January 20 - Casbah 21st Anniversary / Art Fag Nite - bands TBA - @ The Casbah ($TBA)

February 4 - Vivian Girls, Best Coast & guests TBA. DJs Mario Ordiuno, Sir Charles & Brandon Welchez. @ The Casbah ($10)

February 25 - Strange Boys, Chain And The Gang & guests TBA. Djs.... @ The Casbah ($TBA)

Chuck Berry 'Sweet Little 16' = Best Footage Ever

Best footage ever maybe? In 1958 Chuck Berry played the Newport Jazz Festival. Nineteen FIFTY EIGHT. Not only does this performance kill, but the fools in the crowd look so cool. Did everybody know Surfin' USA was a blatant rip off? Even down to the geographical shout outs. I love 'em both anyway....

Mika Miko Last Shows Ever

Here's the poster for the final Mika Miko shows ever. They are on December 31 & January 1. If those sell out, there will be a show added on December 30. I'l be playing records on the January 1 show, just saying. Oi! and punker rippers.

Pitchfork Readers Poll (All The Dogs Are In It)

Yo, so a bunch of groops from the posse are included on the Pitchfork 2009 Readers Poll. You can go on there and rep that shit. Cold Cave, Pearl Harbor, Best Coast, Dum Dum Girls, Crocodiles, Wavves, No Age, Nite Jewel, Strange Boys and Zola Jesus are all on there. And fuck it, since Ye Olde Maids' LP 'God Blesses Us, Mother Dresses Us' isn't on there for record of the year, write it in. Simple right? They made it easy on you. Go vote, it's yr duty.

Cold Cave In San Diego Tomorrow!!

Psyched. @ The Casbah @ 8:30. There are still some tix left here. There will also be set aside for walk ups. Ale Mania and Nite Jewel open. Mario Orduno & Piper (Pear Harbor) provide the records.

Also, we'll have some of the last Ye Olde Maids lps available for purchase.

Crocodiles Tour: New Zealand & Australia

Up there above are the posters for Crocodiles' New Zealand tour and Australia tour. I'm a little bit late on this so sorry. But if you live down under you can still make 7 dates!! And for extra added bonus, if you happen to be one of these "two piece" lovers, than this will be earth's last chance to experience Crocodiles as a "two piece". Cuz they soon will be a "one piece" or something. They should do us all a favor and introduce the "no piece", right?

Dum Dum Girls Included On Rough Trade Shops Indie Pop 09

My favorite label, and main influence (which I've noted ad nauseum), Rough Trade, have released their Indie Pop compilation for 2009 and it includes dear associates Dum Dum Girls! Future Art Fag Recordings associates Girls At Dawn are included too as are top gals Vivian Girls. You can buy it here . The track list is below.





1 tullycraft - the punks are writing love songs
2 the faintest ideas - nosebleeders on the track
3 love is all - wishing well
4 girls - morning light
5 vivian girls - moped girls
6 the girls at dawn - never enough
7 veronica falls - beachy head
8 cause co-motion - you lose
9 betty and the werewolves - david cassidy
10 pocketbooks - fleeting moments
11 los campesinos! - you! me! dancing!
12 shrag - hopelessly wasted
13 the boy least likely to - the summer of a dormouse
14 the school - and suddenly
15 play people - goes out
16 celestial - somedays we are
17 moscow olympics - no winter, no autumn
18 liechtenstein - security by design
19 minisnap - leave it to you
20 sad day for puppets - marble gods
21 dum dum girls - longhair
22 the legends - seconds away
23 the manhattan love suicides - clusterfuck
24 the pains of being pure at heart -103
25 the bobby mcgees - l.o.v.e/: a masonic youth

In related news, Rough Trade's Counter Culture comp which compiles the best of 2009 according to staff will include Crocodiles' 'I Wanna Kill'. Judging from past years i would expect a Feb 2010 release.

Best Coast February Tour Dates With Vivian Girls

This = fun.

Thu-Feb-04 San Diego, CA Casbah
Fri-Feb-05 Costa Mesa, CA Detroit Bar
Sat-Feb-06 Los Angeles, CA The Smell
Mon-Feb-08 Santa Cruz, CA Crepe Place
Tue-Feb-09 San Francisco, CA Bottom of the Hill
Thu-Feb-11 Portland, OR Holocene
Fri-Feb-12 Vancouver, BC Biltmore
Sat-Feb-13 Seattle, WA High Dive

Best Of 2009

Here is is, the top 20 releases of 2009 according to me. This does not include split releases, only solo releases. Except for Male Bonding, who managed to only release splits, therefore forcing them on here cuz they RULE.

Dum Dum Girls - 4 Song 12" ep (Captured Tracks)
Best Coast - Sun Was High (So Was I) 7" (Art Fag Recordings)
Woven Bones - 4 song 12" ep (Zoo Music)
Pearl Harbor - Lost @ Sea (unreleased, but HAS to be one of the songs of the year)
Crocodiles - Summer Of Hate LP (Fat Possum)
Cold Cave - Love Comes Close LP (Heartworm/Matador)
Grass Widow - s/t LP (Make A Mess)
Ye Olde Maids - God Blesses Us, Mother Dresses Us LP (Art Fag Recordings)
No Age - Losing Feeling 12" ep (Sub Pop)
Mika Miko - We Be Xuxa LP (PPM)
Mutating Meltdown - Fantasy 7" (M'Lady's)
Zola Jesus - The Spoils LP (Sacred Bones)
Girls At Dawn - Never Enough 7" (Hozac)
Beaters - Fishage 7" (Single Screen/Volar)
Yellow Fever - s/t LP (Wild World)
Male Bonding - every split they were on (Italian Beach Babes/Tough Love/Paradise Vendors/Sexbeat)
The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart - s/t LP (Slumberland)
Liechtenstein - Survival Strategies In A Modern World 10" LP (Slumberland)
Nite Jewel - Want You Back 12" (Italians Do It Better)
Reading Rainbow - Restless 7" (Zoo Music)

Zola Jesus

(Photo by Indra Dunis)

In honor of our upcoming show with Zola Jesus on January 7th, Pitchfork went ahead and did a feature on her. Thanks Pitchfork!!

p.s. Check out the video for Clay Bodies on her Myspace thing.

SAN DIEGO TONIGHT

BEST COAST, STRANGE BOYS & GANGLIANS AT TOWER BAR. SICK.

TODAY!!

ART FAG FEST 5PMMMMMMMMMMM.

Tomorrow!!

ART FAG FEST!!

Art Fag Fest : 4 Days Away..

This is four days away. Get your ticket(s) here. Please don't forget that this show starts at 5pm. If you don't know where the SD Woman's Club hall is, look here.

Ye Olde Maids Featured On Pink Priest Mix

Pink Priest has included Ye Olde Maids on a mix for the awesome blog, Discontent, A Mixtape Blog. Go download it! And while your add it, why not check out Pink Priest's blog God of Blues.

The Ye Olde Maids LP is available through Matador Direct and Revolver in the US, and also there are a few left for single mailorder via the Art Fag Recordings store.

Spectrum + Sonic Boom

On my recent trip to Los Angeles, I went on my obligatory trip to Amoeba to sink a few hours and hopefully leave with my arms full and my addiction fed. And I did! Not only did I find an original Vaselines 12" ep on 53rd & 3rd, and Stone Roses' 'Complete' 2xLP, but what I was oddly most pleased with was a cassette copy of Spectrum's first lp, "Soul Kiss" from 1992. It's a piece of melodic drone perfection. It was $1.99 and brand new! 2 dollars for a classic? Try and seek it out! Spectrum, of course is Sonic Boom/Pete Kember's band, post Spacemen 3.







SO in my Spectrum haze, I've been trippin' on their Youtubes and last night I was shocked to see that this video below only had 580 views. What the hell? It's so good...do yourself a favor and click it.






And if that's not enough, go here, or here.

Last Caress By Dum Dum Girls

Go to Dum Dum Girls Myspace thing if you wanna hear their cover of Last Caress by The Misfits. It's good. And don't cry to me if you were a slowpoke, cuz they'll rip it down on yr ass in a heartbeat.

And speaking of Dum Dum Girls, did everybody know they are playing this in San Diego on Nov 27?

COLD CAVE In San Diego December 5 / Poster

Whoop there it is. This night is kinda sick from beginning to end. If you haven't gotten the new ep Death Comes Close hurry up and go get it, it's super limited. And if you want to go even more limited, check out the Heartworm site. They just posted all kinds of rare CC goodies.


Here are the remaining dates of Cold Cave's current tour:


Nov 20 2009 at The Pill at Great Scott ,Boston
Nov 21 2009 w/ Sonic Youth & Dinosaur Jr at Terminal 5 ,NEW YORK
Nov 23 2009 w/ Sonic Youth at the Wilbur Theater ,BOSTON
Nov 30 2009 at The Vera Project ,Seattle
Dec 1 2009 at Rotture w/Former Ghosts ,Portland
Dec 3 2009 at Bottom Of The Hill w/ Former Ghosts ,San Francisco
Dec 4 2009 at Center For The Arts, Eagle Rock w/ Former Ghosts ,Los Angeles
Dec 5 2009 at Casbah w/ Nite Jewel + Ale Mania ,San Diego
Dec 6 2009 at Part Time Punks at the Echo w/ Nite Jewel ,Los Angeles

Happy Birthday Bill

We miss you everyday. xxxoo

Best Coast is Single of the Week @ Escalator Records + Sold Out

One of the fun parts of having a record label is sending records to fun places, like Tokyo. Here is a cool interview with the owners circa 2008. (ANTHEM MAGAZINE)


BEST COAST

'SUN WAS HIGH (SO WAS I)' 7" ¥1,290（税抜） ¥1,355（税込）

やはり発売日に完売になってしまった本国でもまともに流通されてない程に超限定販売されたBEST COASTのデビュー・シングル、送ってくれました。BETHANY COSENTINOはPOCAHAUNTEDのメンバー。DUM DUM GIRLSをよりビーチに向かわせ50'Sガールズ・ポップを歌わせたような今後ビーチ・ポップと呼ばれることになるのかもしれない盤の中でもまちがいなく特別なドラッグ・ポップ盤。限定300枚。US/ART FAG [ART FAG] x
品切れ中 | SOLD OUT

(ESCALATOR RECORDS HARAJUKU/SHIBUYA-KU/TOKYO JAPAN)

Press Bonanza: Best Coast & Dum Dum Girls

Lots of fun press junk on Dum Dum Girls and Best Coast lately! Here's a mini round up for you to chill to:

Firstly, check the mp3 and stream of Best Coast's new song on an upcoming 7" on Black Iris at The Fader. Then check out the OTHER song from the Black Iris 7" at Pitchfork.

When you're done trippin' on those go over to NME and see how they picked Dum Dum Girls as the number one thing to check at CMJ a couple weeks ago. You can't really read it though cuz it's tiny, but you can see their pic and get the idea. Or you can go buy it or something, they're hella expensive though. NME's generally a lame read, too, 'cep for when your dogs are in there.

Crocodiles Tour Diary / Shows w/ Raveonettes

Here's a kinda cool tour diary type thing Crocodiles did earlier in the year. It's kinda funny. It was posted on a website called Sezio and they were kind enough to send it over to me.

This Thursday Crocodiles play at The Belly Up Tavern with The Raveonettes and Dum Dum Girls. I'm gonna be playing records too for extra bonus.

Here are the remaining Crocs shows for this year:

Nov 9 2009 BIMBO’S w/ The Raveonettes San Francisco, California
Nov 10 2009 DETROIT BAR w/ The Raveonettes Costa Mesa, California
Nov 12 2009 BELLY UP w/ The Raveonettes Solana Beach, California
Nov 13 2009 HENRY FONDA w/ The Raveonettes Los Angeles, California
Nov 14 2009 THE GLASSHOUSE w/ The Raveonettes Pomona, California
Nov 21 2009 SALON CARIBE Mexico City
Nov 27 2009 ART FAG FEST San Diego, California
Dec 2 2009 SFBH Wellington
Dec 3 2009 GOODBYE BLUE MONDAY Christchurch
Dec 4 2009 MUM CLUB Auckland
Dec 5 2009 BACCO ROOM Auckland
Dec 11 2009 MEREDITH MUSIC FESTIVAL Melbourne, Victoria

Pearl Harbor Are Cover Girls / New Jams

Our favorite California golden girls are on the cover of the new LA Record, which is kinda tight. In celebration, they'll be djing and carrying on at LA's Cha Cha tonight. Go pick it up and read if you can.

You can also zone out and trip to two new and spectacular jams on their Myspace thing. 'California Shakedown' & 'I've Got Some Happiness (Leland cover)'.

There'll be a Pearl Harbor / Art Fag release in the 2010, which is pretty chill.

Lastly, get your tix for Art Fag Fest and check them out in San Diego Nov 27! All ages.

Yellow Fever Release New LP, Go On Tour

Austin's Yellow Fever have just released an LP on Wild World (Vivian Girls' label). They are currently on tour in support of it and are making a stop in here, in San Diego. I've never seen Yellow Fever, and have been anxiously awaiting them ever since Jennifer (YF) gave me their awesome CD. Their tour dates are below. Their San Diego show also has my faves Heavy Hawaii, new punx Nude Boy and new, new, NEW punx Jungle Fever. So much fever. It's Tuesday at The Soda Bar and it costs $5 dollars. Oh! And go buy their record while it lasts at the Wild World site!!


Yellow Fever's Tour Dates:

Nov 5 2009 Los Angeles @ Spaceland w/ Still Flyin’
Nov 6 2009 Santa Cruz @ Don Quixote’s con Still Flyin’
Nov 7 2009 San Francisco @ Cafe Du Nord w/ Still Flyin’
Nov 8 2009 Davis or Sacramento- w/ NODZZZ
Nov 9 2009 Los Angeles @ The Smell w/ Dunes, Besttt Coasttt, and more!
Nov 10 2009 San Diego CA @ Soda Bar w/Dunes, Nude Boy, and Heavy Hawaii (ex Fantastic Magic)
Nov 11 2009 Tempe AZ @ Bike Coop w/ Talk Normal
Nov 12 2009 El Paso TX @ Tequila Garage w/ Dozal Brothers and The Lusitania
Nov 13 2009 Lubbock TX (THIS IS THE HOMETOWN OF BUDDY HOLLY!!)
Nov 14 2009 Denton TX @ Hailey’s w/ Fergus and Geronimo!

Best Coast Mail Order Sold Out / Shops & Distros Now Carrying

Best Coast Direct Sale Sold Out; Shops and Distros Remain

The Best Coast record sold out quick! We ran through our direct sale stock in a week, but don't sweat because we're selling it to Shops and Distros all over the whole wide world. Also, if you go to a Best Coast show, you'll be able to stop by, say 'What up' to homegirl and buy one.

Now available at these vendors (a lot more vendors being added soon):

Love Garden Sounds (Shop in Lawrence, Kansas)
File Under Records (Japanese mailorder)
FUSETRON (American distro)
Volcanic Tongue (Shop and online store, Scottland)
Italian Beach Babes (England Distro/mailorder)
Escalator (Japanese Shop & Online Store)

We still got a couple of Ye Olde Maids LP left for direct sale here but distros and shops are gobbling the record up crazy fast.

Thanks to everyone who bought direct all your records HAVE BEEN SHIPPED!

Cold Cave Tix On Sale / San Diego

San DIego Cold Cave Dec 5 tickets are now on sale and you can buy them here. They are ten bucks presale, and 12 dollars if they are still available at the door. Nite Jewel, Ale Mania and Former Ghosts are also on the bill, which is pretty nuts, right player? At The Casbah.

Heavy Hawaii / New Songs To Trip To

If you've ever wondered what it would sound like if Brian Wilson would have doubled up on drugs you're in for a treat. San Diego's Heavy Hawaii
sent me over a couple o' trax and my mind is blown. Jam packed with bright sunny melody, these songs out do even their own stellar 'Sleeping Bag' from the Bathetic tape. There's something lovely, yet tripped out about these slow jams. 'Teen Angel' sounds like Phil Spector's genius template with a scary circus sound tossed in for extra bonus freakiness. 'Philly Games' is an underwater love song that's sung by a high as the sky romeo. You don't believe me? Click, stream and treat yourself below...

Heavy Hawaii - Philly Games


Heavy Hawaii - Teen Angel


Heavy Hawaii plays in San Diego November 10 with Yellow Fever, Nude Boy, and Jungle Fever at Soda Bar. Freakout sounds provided between by yours truly. It costs 5 dollars. Much more in the works by these dudes, stay tuned.

Cold Cave / Stereogum Interview + News

Stereogum did an interesting look into the days and day jobs of Cold Cave members. As with anything with Wes & Co., it's more insightful than most musicians' interviews. Read it here.

In related news, if you are a shop in the US, you can purchase the Ye Olde Maids LP 'God Blesses Us, Mother Dresses Us' via Revolver USA and Carrot Top. It is also available at Art Fag's mail order site in increasingly limited quantities.

Lastly, as hopefully you know, Cold Cave will appear at The Casbah Dec 5, and tix go onsale this weekend here. Get them quick fool, I have a crazy feeling about this night.

Best Coast Debut 7" Is Here!!

That right there is the new Best Coast 7" laying all pretty on my big ol' white beach towel. They're finally in and I'm ecstatic about it. I hope you are too, fool. This evening you'll be able to purchase here. Shops, we'll be doing direct sales for you, Revolver USA will be carrying, and Insound will also have in their store. Lastly, Best Coast will have at all shows in future, so go say 'Hi' and buy it! This is an edition of 500 on black vinyl.

Track listing:

A) Sun Was High (So Was I)

B) So Gone
That's The Way Boys Are

Upcoming shows:

Nov 9 2009 THE SMELL W/ YELLOW FEVER AND DUNES LA, CA
Nov 10 2009 THE ECHO W/ 60 WATT KID + TBA LA, CA
Nov 27 2009 ART FAG FEST @ THE SAN DIEGO WOMAN'S CLUB SD, CA

Art Fag Fest November 27 In San Diego

I am very, very proud to announce this. The line up is kinda tight right? Tickets are on sale right now and you can get them here. It's being held in an awesome hall built in 1942 called The San Diego Woman's Club. It's in San Diego's Banker's Hill neighborhood. This is ALL AGES. So go get yr tickets and don't miss out!

New Song 'Robust Universe' By Ale Mania

Here is a new song by Ale Mania. It's called 'Robust Universe' and it will be on an upcoming 7" on the label Hell Yes. Untill then, you'll only hear it here, so enjoy.

Ale Mania is the brainchild of Andrew Montoya, former drummer for San Diego garage freaks, The Sess, and and is also the current drummer in Beaters with former Sess brodog Jeremy Rojas. Ale Mania, like I mentioned below, is playing with Cold Cave + Nite Jewel on December 5 @ The Casbah in San Diego.

Ale Mania - Robust Universe

Cold Cave Video - Love Comes Close

Cold Cave have just released the video for the title track of their new LP, "Love Comes Close". It's cool. This song was the song of summer, but now that it's getting cooler, it's gonna go ahead and become the song of fall, and most likely the song of winter. Fuck it.





Video courtesy of Stereogum


Cold Cave will be in my city of San Diego December 5 w/ Nite Jewel + Ale Mania. @ The Casbah.

Mika Miko Calls It Quits :,,,,o(

The coolest punk band in California is pulling the plug. I'm too tore up to talk about it so read all about it here.

Jeremy Jay / Christmas Island / San DIego / Oct 22

As if next week isn't fun and crazy enough with the below mentioned Pearl Harbor/Dunes party, there's MORE fun in San Diego the night before on Thursday. K Records and Los Angeles' Jeremy Jay makes his way down for a night at Soda Bar. Christmas Island is playing as are Sea Lions. Indie pop fun all nite long.

To get in the mood try this vid on for size...









And here are Jeremy Jay's tour dates...



Oct 22, 2009 - San Diego, California - Soda Bar

Oct 23, 2009 - Los Angeles, California - THE SMELL

Oct 24, 2009 - San Francisco, California - The Knockout

Oct 29, 2009 - Portland, Oregon - Rotture

Oct 31, 2009 - Vancouver, British Columbia - 1/2 Alive Halloween Party

Nov 1, 2009 - Olympia, Washington - Northern

Nov 4, 2009 - Washington, DC - Comet Pizza and Ping Pong

Nov 5, 2009 - New York City, New York - Union Hall

Nov 6, 2009 - New York City, New York - Cakeshop

Nov 7, 2009 - Montreal, Quebec - Zoo Bizarre

Nov 10, 2009 - Chicago, Illinois - The Empty Bottle

Nov 11, 2009 - Bloomington, Indiana - The Bishop

Pearl Harbor + Dunes - 10/23 In Sometimes Sunny San Diego

This is a show in San Diego that I'm extra extra excited about. Two of Los Angeles' finest are coming down for a quick sec. And these are top buds too. Count on this one to be a party if yr in town.

Dream punx, Dunes will be playing for the first time ever down here and I'm pretty sure they haven't played ANYWHERE very often yet. They consist of ex-Mika Miko drummer Kate Hall, Finally Punk's Stephanie Chan and Talbot Talgora's Mark. Don't miss these fools!

It's no secret Pearl Harbor is one of my personal faves. The pride of '09. Their sunwashed melodies and mini-Marr guitar will make you swoon....promise.

Between bands Jeff Graves and I will be spinning punk rippers, after bands count on soul & oldies stompers for yr big ol' nalgas.

FREE, nuff ced.

Summer Bummer, Get Laid, Get Wasted Tape OUT NOW

Bathetic Records has just released a stellar cassette compilation with the above title. It has all the summer faves on it. I'll allow them to describe it:

We're so stoked to put this out... This is, hands down, probably the greatest compilation mixtape you'll ever own. Laid out to showcase the blissful chaos of a perfect summer. Soak your brain in the warm transition from summer to fall when everything goes all orange and red and burns up and cools out. Sixty perfectly golden moments of shimmering vibes. Totally fuckin awesome! Pro-dubbed cassettes with Pro-printed artwork!

So there were 300 made but there's no more than 299 now cuz I just bought mine. You can buy it here. And check the tracklist below:


Tracklist:
Young Governor - Demands Of Me
Eden Express - On The Beach
Cough Cool - Rainbow God
Cat Killer - Tree Limbs Together
Pink Priest - Field Of Orgasms
Norse Horse - Never Seen The Sea
Nude Beach - Nude Beach
Ouija - Sue Tissue
Julian Lynch - Basement Jam
Angel Olsen - Your Train, My Home
Heavy Hawaii - Sleeping Bag
Dirty Beaches - Drunk Driving
Strange Frames - Not One To Talk
Deep Sht - Hiss This
The North Sea - Crowned King Of July
The Super Vacations - Yellow Hissing
Flight - State Trooper (Springsteen Cover)
Jeans Wilder - Please?
Jen Paul - Sailor's Ball On Ghost At Sea
Best Coast - Sun Was High (So Was I) [Demo Version]


Don't miss out!

Woven Bones Record Out NOW On Zoo Music

Woven Bones' new 12" is ready to buy! It's a 4 song 12" lp and the artwork is above. It's stellar, and there are only 500 of them so get one! Order it here, at the Zoo Music website. Of course Zoo Music is Brandon from Crocodiles and Dee Dee Dum Dum's record label. Check out Texas' Woven Bones music and all the exciting upcoming stuff on Zoo Music! use those links I just meticulously put together for you.

Best Coast Tee By Dunes' Kate Hall / Kinda Fresh

Above is an image drawn by Kate Hall for a new Best Coast tee. Kinda kool.

Kate's formerly of Mika Miko and currently in Dunes which are a badass semi-new Los Angeles band. If yr in California you can see them soon at The Whistle Stop in San Diego on 10/23 and in LA at The Smell on 11/9.

GET WITH THE PROGRAM.

The It Parade In NYLON: Dum Dum Girls & Best Coast

If you go and pick up the current and brand new issue of NYLON Magazine you'll find an article in it called 'The It Parade' and it covers 5 'leading ladies' of indie rock. 2 of these It Girls are super buds and are on the current/next three Art Fag releases, Dum DUm Girls and Best Coast. Sick! So go read and check the pics or whatever. I can't find a copy to save my life here in San Diego, but if you live in any other civilized city, you should be able to find it easily.

In Light Of Recent Revelations

October / November/ December In San Diego

Herrrrre you go:

Saturday, October 17 - Bare Wires (SF/Tic Tac Totally), Sprit Photography, Heavy Hawaii @ Soda Bar $7

Thursday, October 22 - Jeremy Jay, Christmas Island, Sea Lions w/ DJs Mario Orduno + Dimitri Dickinson @ Soda Bar $7

Friday, October 23 - Pearl Harbor, Dunes w/ DJs Jeff Graves + Mario Orduno @ Whistle Stop FREE

Tuesday, November 10 - Yellow Fever, Dunes w/ DJ Mario Orduno @ Soda Bar $7

Thursday, November 12 - Blues Control, Sprit Photography w/ DJs Dimitri Dickinson + Mario Orduno @ Soda Bar $7

Saturday, December 5 - Cold Cave, Nite Jewel, Ale Mania w/ DJ Mario Orduno @ The Casbah $10/12

Man, oh man, linking is a pain in the ass.

The Freshies

I just recently stumbled upon an amaaazing power pop/punk band. The Freshies. They were form Manchester in the late seventies and barely into the early eighties. Seriously addictive pop gems! I've listened and watched these vids below ten or so times each over the last few nights. Shockingly ignored. And how awesome are their titles? "I'm In Love With The Girl On The Manchester Virgin Megastore Checkout Desk"?

Obviously their records are rare as hell and even their hits cd which came out in 1996 is lonnng out of print. Oh well, enjoy these videos, you'll be hooked.

Tonight In San Diego / Ducktails & Jeans Wilder

San Diego gets another lil' treat. If you're in the area...

Rosie & The Originals 'Angel Baby'

Rosie & The Originals from San Diego, California. 1960.






Forgive me for the lame 'video' with the still picture. I don't have a fancy player or nothin'. This is the jam, though, right? Anyway, I finally got this today on 45 and I thought I'd post out of celebration.

10/2 - Crocodiles, Dum Dum Girls, Best Coast, Pearl Harbor

This should be a fun night with some of the best Southern California has to offer. At The Che Cafe in San Diego/La Jolla. All ages of course. Tix only available the night of.

Show Updates / Put On By Art Fag In San Diego

Thursday September 17 - Ducktails @ Soda Bar $

Saturday October 17 - Bare Wires @ Soda Bar $

Friday October 23 - Best Coast & Dunes @ The whistle Stop FREE

Thursday November 12 - Blues Control @ Soda Bar $

WAY more to be announced soon.

G.G. Allin Tribute 7" / PENS, Graffiti Island, Male Bonding, Fair Ohs

Italian Beach Babes is a label run by Conan Roberts of Graffiti island. The label is gearing up for a monster of a release. The GG Allin tribute 7" featiuring PENS, Male Bonding, Fair Ohs and Graffiti Island. This comes just in time for me, not only because I'm currently obsessed with the naked one, but all these bands on the record are amongst my favorites recently. Seeing G.I. & PENS 7 times iin 10 days was a massive treat recently on the Art Fag 7" tour. Anyway, you can preorder this nugg over at IBB's website.

Here is the tracklist:

Fair Ohs- Automatic
Graffiti Island- Drink, Fight & Fuck
Pens- I Dont Give A Shit
Male Bonding- You Hate Me And I Hate You

See? The raddest record by the raddest bands in tribute of the worst person EVER!

Lastly, check out the commercial for the Italian Beach Babes label.

ITALIAN BEACH BABES from Conan Roberts on Vimeo.

Best Coast / Dunes Oct 23

@ The Whistle Stop. Just making a note so I don't forget.

New Pearl Harbour Song

New song Luv Goon by Pearl Harbour posted on ye olde Myspace. Oh, it's appropiate





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Dunes / Los Angeles

New band time. New magic ass band time, actually. Los Angeles' Kate Hall (Mika Miko) and Stephanie Chan (Finally Punk) have a new band and it's called Dunes. And it's stellar. It's spacey, and dreamy, but kinda punker too. Is that weird? I'm ripping off a friend with this description, but think 'Cocteau Punk'. Or just go listen to them on their Myspace thing. Go!

Cold Cave IS Playing SF and Thursday SD Show

Sorry for confusion but Cold Cave is playing Thursday with The Strange Boys and The Anasazis at Soda Bar. 4 days later they WILL be plaing at The Knockout in San Francisco. It was thought that they would not be playing and those thoughts were wrong. These shows are in ADDITION to the Glass Candy SD show and the LA shows.

For all their info check their Myspace thing...the calendar is up to date.

2 Nites In San Diego: The Strange Boys, Glass Candy, Cold Cave, Best Coast

Finally back from the big Crocodiles/PENS/Graffiti Island tour. It was great! Maybe magic. Sucks I had strep throat or some shit.

So on with our lives. Look at what we have going on in San Diego this week! Fucking bananas.

Thursday The Anasazis and The Strange Boys are playing at Soda Bar on our Expressway To Yr Skull Night. That means mega fun for all.






Friday look at this magic ass shit. Glass Candy! Cold Cave! Best Coast! Annnnnnnnnnnnnnd surprise! New Italians Do It Better band, Desire from Montreal. SIIIICK. Get there early yo.

Updates And Whatnot

In Seattle tonight. I haven't had much time to write on here. Who cares. Anyway, two updates. Dum Dum Girls have been to tonight's show at The Chop Suey in Seattle. Kinda cool. Also, I just got this poster/flier for Saturday's CRAZY show at The Casbah in San Diego.







Buy yr tix here cuz it'll sell out, right? Right.

Nirvana

The single best abum in the history of albums is getting 20th anniversary reissue deluxe treatment. Better then the White Album, better than Ok Computer, better the than Piper At The Gates Of Dawn, better than My Generation, better than Daydream Nation. better than Up The Bracket, better than Shock Troops, better than Pretty Toney.....waitaminute. NOTHINGS BETTER THAN Pretty Toney. But it's cool fool, Nirvana's Bleach.

Heavy Hawaii Post New Song 'Sleeping Bag'

Heavy Hawaii, the former Fantastic Magic members, have put up a new song on their Myspace thing. Sleeping Bag. It's fucking good, and it's fucking WEIRD. Expect more uncomfortably odd, catchy gems from these San Diego freakazoids. And by the way these are good eggs, Matt and Sundar. Real top dogs. Buy 'em a cold one, they're good for it.

Preorder PENS' Debut LP

You can now preorder what is sure to be one of the best records of the year. PENS' debut lp, "Hey Friend, What You Doing" on De Stijl Records. The record comes out on September 14. I've been waiting on this lp forever and I'm psyched. 'High In The Cinema' is one of my longstanding favorite songs since I heard it last year, and I'm sure it will be yours too. I think...it should be.. Ok go preorder!

And then obviously don't forget they arrive on our coast in 7 days to start the big Art Fag recordings West Coast tour w/ Crocodiles and Graffiti Island. Find the dates posted somewheres on this here blog or elsewhere on the internets.

Best Coast / California Bloggin'

Check out homegirl's blog. It's full of Best Coast related thoughts, jams, interviews, fave vids, and whatnot. Who doesn't like whatnot???

In related news, Best Coast's 7" is coming soon. Hold yr horses. We're wayyyy excited and it's almost done! It's gonna be on yellow vinyl like the big ol' sun. First press 500.

Relax. Male Bonding Crap Shoot.

Relax. Male Bonding Crap Shoot. is a fun blog by Male Bonding. If you don't like Male Bonding, you may not want to go there, though cuz it's only really about Male Bonding. I have fun over there cuz I like Male Bonding. I just got the 7" split with Old Blood, Graffiti Island and Rapid Youth. Ehhhhh....it rules.

PENS In Dazed Digital

Yo yo yo what's up. Dazed Digital did a thing on PENS. A q&a and some song streams. Check it out here if you want. It's entertaining and shit.

No Age's New EP / LISTEN 4 FREE

Listen to the upcoming No Age ep, "Losing Feeling", here.

SICK.

Best Coast Press / Vice Magazine

My homegirl got all up in Vice. Check that shit here. Her and her dog Bobb are causing a big racket on the blogosphere. The 7" is gonna be sick and I'm getting the test presses tomorrow and pretty excited about it.

FYF Fest Line Up Announced

FYF Fest Presents:
Save Our State Parks
At the Los Angeles Historic State Park
On Saturday, September 5th 2009
www.fyffest.com

The Black Lips
Lightning Bolt
Tim & Eric
Lucero
Converge
F* Up
The Thermals
No Age
Matt Skiba from Alkaline Trio
Glass Candy
Japanther
Times New Viking
Darker My Love
Carbonas
Peanut Butter Wolf
Crystal Antlers
AA Bondy
Mika Miko
Har Mar Superstar
Nobunny
Telepathe
Cold Cave
The Strange Boys
Katie Stelmanis
Dios
NinjaSonik
Kurt Vile
Eat Skull
Avi Buffalo
+ More to be artists and comedians to be announced

Tickets are $20 and go on sale Tuesday, August 4th at noon through ticketweb.com

Go here for all the details.

Record Shopping : Byron Lee And The Dragonaires

Yesterday I went record shopping and found a ridiculously beautiful 60s copy of the above lp. What the fuck right? Who ever sees beautiful 1960s jamaican records in good shape? Nobody. Anyway, it's a damn perfect record. It even comes with an insert with some ska dance moves and brief lessons on how to execute them. And on the cover there's a little ad: 'Wherever there's SKA...there's Red Stripe".

The song below is on the lp.






November 4 is the one year anniversary of Byron Lee's death. I'm planning a party. Stay tuned..

West Coast Summer Tour 2009

So here it is, ladies and germs. The tour flier for the highly (right?) anticipated west coast tour by Crocodiles, PENS and Graffiti Island. Simple, stark, and highly photocopied. Just how we like it. This tour's going to be a doozy folks.

17 Seconds / Bam Bam

Anybody in the market for 17 seconds of brilliance? Eye/ear candy? Ok, here's 17 seconds of Sister nancy's 'Bam Bam', kind of a summer jam, no?

Graffiti Island Interview Via Fader

Fader just posted this interview with Graffiti island and I thought all 20 of you loyal readers would love to take a nibble. Of course, G.I. are heading to California soon and have a song on the exciting new Art Fag 7" with Dum Dum Girls, PENS & Crocodiles, so this seems like perfect timing. Meet Graffiti Island in their own words and listen to their Moon Tan offering to the 7".

As we've been saying the past week, you can preorder the record here and thank yrself on September 1st when it ships.

Forkast On Internet Forever

Pitchfork has discovered my best kept secret. Internet Forever's 7" will be released in a little under a couple months and you can read their take on the matter here. The 7" has two songs on it, 'Break Bones' which is Forkasted and '3D'. If you have any taste for noisy melody, these songs will be stuck in yr head for weeks and weeks. And if you like those, go to their Myspace and listen to 'Cover The Walls'. The first time I heard it I listened at least ten times in a row.

Mutating Meltdown / San Diego / Aug 7

One of my favorite records released this year is the Mutating Meltdown 7" on M'Lady's Records. It's post punk, no wave, distorted disco GOLD. Veronica & Erin from Finally Punk are 2/3 of MM, and I think it's their best project yet (although I love the fuck out of all of 'em, nuff raspeck).

Well all that being said, I'm straight trippin' that they're on tour now and on the way to sunny San Diego on Aug 7. Badass. They're playing a kinda big deal at Soda Bar. Beaters are playing and celebrating their new 7" release, along with Christmas Island, Wicked Awesomes and Le Face. Also, for extra added pleasure bonus, Crocodiles' Brandon will finally be back to help me clean the earholes of all the unsuspecting guests.

8 BUCKS playa...

Oh wait, how bout the flier huh? Gay Chicanos. All expressing themselves. What a find.

Lastly, check the Mutating Meltdown Myspace thing for all the tour info. They're playing literally EVERYWHERE so go see 'em!!

Male Bonding

'Years Not Longer' by Male Bonding is my favorite song right now. Go listen to it! It's on their Myspace. It's perfect, really.

It's going to be on an upcoming split 7" with Eat Skull to be released by Tough Love Records. It's due in September and you can preorder that shit at their website. There's only 500 copies being pressed. The cover's kinda sick too.

September Nights / San Diego

September 3 - The Strange Boys, Cold Cave, Crocodiles, The Anasazis @ Soda Bar $8

September 4 - Glass Candy, Cold Cave, Best Coast @ The Casbah $12

These were confirmed today, so i thought I'd share them with the San Diego fools. They should be magic nights.

Too Many Creeps / Gun Outfit / San Diego

This is a poster I made for a special show next Sunday. I'm kinda pumped on it cuz I love Gun Outfit and I love playing records with my friend Brian. He plays in Christmas Island and Spirit Photography and he's a top ass cat. Gun Outfit are punkers. Good ones too. This crap is free, and potentially tons o' fun. San Diego, you are some lucky ducks.