It's the day after Christmas, and Valley friends The Unending Thread are hitting us with another present — they've been collaborating with new Berkeley four-piece Forget It. on a split EP "TUT // FORGET IT", and today they dropped a new single! Forget It.'s "Not Everything Is About Me" follows last week's release "Dearest Anna" with showers of twinkle and the screams of hoarse men, plus an introspective adage courtesy of Bojack Horseman. The Unending Thread's "Dearest Anna", which premiered on MAT Magazine, marks the trio's stylistic shift to territories redolent of dance-rock. Don't fret though; them boy-girl vocals, double-tap riffs, and funk licks are still kicking.

"TUT // FORGET IT" comes out January 15th, 2016, with release shows happening in the Bay and LA. It's a sick line-up on both fronts, but that goes without saying. - Ryan Mo

Jan. 10 — Octopus Literary Saloon (Oakland) with Just Friends, Sarchasm, The Unending Thread, Lawn Chairs

Feb. 4 — The Smell (Los Angeles) with The Unending Thread, Love Nothing, Ferbus, Josh Abrams, and Dustin and the Explosions

Lawndale's working class police-magnet NOYES (pronounced [noiz]) plays grungy noise rock, and they've always floated on the fringes of Los Angeles' music scene, mingling with South Bay and Valley bands of DIY stature. But outside of the SoCal music hub, Kermit Obert (guitar/vox), Ian Fahrenreich (drums), and Daniel Garcia (bass) have been tearing up the West, whether at a sweaty Torrance house show in or a packed venue in Seattle. Back in their early formation, the three went under a different name — Moose (US), if only to distance and pay homage to the '90s British band that first got trashed as "shoegazing". With the release of their first demo "Obscurities", Moose wasted no time playing out their first sonic incarnation of lo-fi garage scrunge.

Around 2013 Moose's musical direction curved, morphing into NOYES, embracing discordant aggression and embarking on their first tour with Mountair buddies Ghost Noise. They haven't looked back since, and though they've yet to be celebrated by tastemakers of Internet fame, NOYES has received great support from the local underground, playing with bands like Dustin and the Explosions, Loko Ono, The May Runners, and more. All the good vibes jam-packed themselves into the band's breakthrough debut EP, recorded with Converse Rubber Tracks in 2014.

NOYES make their Smell debut tomorrow with a digital release of their brand new six-track EP titled "Relapse". They're on with support from long-time mates Yogi Berra, Big Sis, and new kids No Chill from the Inland Empire. Listen to NOYES' premiere single "Cut Off" and get turnt with respect to the gang and the venue. 

Because you don't fuck with a band that's played a sick cover to Daria's theme song. You just don't. - Ryan Mo, photo credit Nadia Adella

Cindy Sukrattawong is one integral third of surfpunky Dustin and the Explosions. She causes a ruckus on the regular, trading dirty guitar licks and bass fills with Mike Trejo. But on her spare time, Cindy is strips down the guitar tone to its most basic form, harvesting acoustic timbres for her instrumental project Littlest Sister. Backed by drummer Evan Piehler (also part of D & the E's), the duo's sounds rolls like a summer wind with its rising and falling rhythms, with cascading strums that ease into a soft lull. Emotionally dynamic, Littlest Sister offers listeners a peak of the greatest heights for the heart to soar in the intimate expanse of its wordless narratives.

Watch their first official music video "Begin Again" below, and find the song on their self-titled debut, available on local microlabel Bed Weather Records. - Ryan Mo

Burbank's punk trio Dustin and the Explosions play whatever they feel like. Sometimes it's abrasive, in-your-face hardcore punk, and other times it's pacific and briney surf rock. Sometimes Mike Trejo and Cindy Sukrattanawong switch instruments between songs. We haven't seen Evan Piehler step off the drums yet, but who knows? It could happen.

One thing is constant about Dustin and the Explosions: in their years of existence they've run non-stop DIY. The group has been actively setting up and playing shows with the locale, usually at The Smell: bands like Kid Cadaver, GRMLN, Post-Life, and WASI. It's no question that the band exists for their love of music, even the production and label aspect — the trio even release friends' records via their startup Bed Weather Records. And yeah, they tend to share a musical connection with Southern California's hardcore punk bands, like The Dead Kennedys, only their lyrics aren't sardonic and politically charged — they're pretty introspective and hit really close to home.

Dustin and the Explosions' newest 7" release Serpents was released last May, nearly two years since their debut album Off-White Noise, and they've just released a music video for their song "I Don't Know Any Kakarot, That's Not My Name" filmed by members of Ghost Noise. Catch them again next month for a live performance at (where else?) The Smell. Maybe you'll see Evan on guitar for a song? - Ryan Mo