The Curls have released the first two singles, "Friend Song" and "Shiny Red Apple", from their forthcoming debut full-length, Slice of Life. Both songs were recorded live, and really capture the big sound this six piece band emits.

In a twist of events, Los Angeles' occult punks Sextile were recently hand-picked to tour parts of the West Coast with self-actualized Oakland-turned-Venetian EBM project The Soft Moon, following the dropout of headliner Killing Joke due to health reasons. Taking financial difficulties into account, Sextile launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for touring expenses —  the band has reached almost $1000, nearly 120% of their goal, with 13 more days to go. The support does not come unwarranted, either — since the release of their debut album A Thousand Hands, Sextile have made a name for themselves performing across Los Angeles with darker dance partners like The Electric West, L.A. Drones, and Terminal A. With expanding coverage from shore to shore, their purgatory sounds evoke perfectly the spiritual unrest and emotional agitation that scrapes the back of our thoughts.  

In a recent interview with music blog Heathen Harvest, the band has announced that it will also perform at SXSW this year, and are currently writing new material for upcoming releases. Stream Sextile's debut album A Thousand Hands on Bandcamp and catch them at The Casbah in San Diego tonight. - Ryan Mo

Whitney released the first single from their forthcoming debut album last week. The album will be released this Spring via Secretly Canadian. Whitney is fronted by Julien Ehrlich, formerly of Unknown Mortal Orchestra and Max Kakacek, formerly of Smith Westerns.

Last Friday, Portland resident and friend to many of us Danny Moore was struck by a car off of MLK and NE Jarrett St. The assailant eventually turned himself in, but Danny was still left with two broken legs among other injuries, not to mention a mountain of medical debt. Because us Portlanders take care of our own, a benefit show to aid Danny is being held this Monday, January 25th, at Dig A Pony. Playing the benefit will be Dyslexics The, a solo set by the Woolen Men's Lawton Browning and tunes spun by DJ Bad Wizard. The 21+ event runs from 9pm-1am, with all proceeds of course going to fund Danny's recovery. Come on out and help a friend in need!

-Cervante Pope

The Century's Losers EP came out just late last year, and as their second EP, it's already on it's way to maintaining their position as indelible contenders in Portland's rock n' roll scene. Today, they're dropping the lead track on the EP, "Here's to Nothing." It delightfully plays with both the lo-fi distortion of classic garage rock and the catchy, sing-a-long aspects of a good pop song. Let "Here's to Nothing" serve as the anthem to the apathetic soul in all of us. Listen below!

-Cervante Pope