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.