The Extraordinaires are arguably Philadelphia’s most exciting nostalgia-core, acousto-pop Jamboree band. While their year may have been relatively slow in terms of musical output (one 3-song EP The Postcard), the band was anything but quiet. As we have come to expect from The Extraordinaires, if there was a holiday approaching, the boys made sure to stop at nothing to perform outlandish and wholly invested theme shows. This included their Mr. Roger’s-esque Holiday Revue, fully equipped with hung stockings, fake fires and many a special guest. Their Halloween extravaganza with The Deli was no less an affair, with our favorite new DIY venue PhilaMOCA being transformed into a ghoulish, and rather sloppy, spooktacular that obviously included a rousing rendition of both the Ghostbusters Theme song and the A-Team Theme song, which was the costume choice of The Extraordinaires that evening, with not one, but TWO Mr. Ts. The band has been independently and relentlessly touring since 2005, and this year was no different as they set out on multiple jaunts to spread the word of their narrative, jubilant Americana. The gang’s lineup saw a few notable changes this year, as bassist and founding Extraordinaire Matt Gibson got called up to the Bigs to to join and tour with Philly’s most acclaimed freak-pop ensemble Man Man. It was obviously sad to see him go, but everyone is proud of him, and it gave The Extraordinaires an opportunity to tweak it’s lineup a bit by officially adding Koofreh Umoren and welcoming Adam Ravitz as their new bassist. The Postcard EP, released in March of 2011 shows a familiar, if not a bit more refined, sound which makes us even more excited to see what The Extraordinaires have planned for 2012 as they work on new material with Fancy Time Studio’s Kyle “Slick” Johnson. – Adam G.

Philly’s own Dr. Dog will be on CONAN tonight! They just dropped Be the Void yesterday – their best record yet. Team Coco has been really supportive so you can check out the album HERE for yourself. Congrats to the canine crew!

Below is an in-studio video of The Lawsuits performing an interestingly named new track called “Hot Girl Makes Porno.” It was recorded and filmed in South Philly’s HotBox Studios. The band will be having a release show for their upcoming EP Hot Love on Saturday, April 7 at MilkBoy Philly with Cheers Elephant, Penrose, Levee Drivers, and special guests Ground Up.

I just wanted to give everyone a heads up about a last minute show tonight at Kung Fu Necktie with Far-Out Fangtooth and Brooklyn’s Royal Baths. Originally, it was scheduled at Little Bar before the split with Phonograph Arts. Luckily, you’ll get a great deal to see both acts in one of my favorite Philly venues. Far-Out Fangtooth are fine tuning their material as they prepare to make the trek down to SXSW once again. (Hopefully there will be less drama this year – they were on tour with The Spooks when the band broke up.) Far-Out Fangtooth will be releasing a new 7” EP after they come back from Austin in late April/early May via HoZac Records. Royal Baths just released their new album nicely titled Better Luck Next Life yesterday, and will also have a split EP with Ty Segall coming out mid-year via HoZac as well. Lantern’s Zach Fairbrother and Emily Robb will be spinning rockin’ tunes throughout the evening too. Do this! Kung Fu Necktie, 1250 N. Front St., 8pm, $5, 21+ (Video by Joe Burns) – Alexis V.

Your senses will be treated to a sonic kaleidoscope tonight at Silk City. South Philly’s True Gold can carry you into the ether with angelic vocals and soaring guitar riffs. I’m really looking forward to hearing from the somewhat mysterious four-piece once their official release comes out via Phonographic Arts. True Gold will be sharing the stage with Harsh Vibes, another fledgling act that are seriously on my radar. The instrumental demos from the noisy, shoegaze-y psych rockers are simply nasty and intense. They’ll also be joined by fellow locals Store Cats and The Sea Around Us which should make for a hometown show that deserves your support. Silk City, 435 Spring Garden St., 9pm, $7, 21+ – H.M. Kauffman

If I was still an awkward teenage rebel trying to find my station in the world, Nicole Snyder and Rachel Gagliardi would be my heroes (at 29, they’re my total girl crushes). The two rad chicks behind the super rad duo Slutever are defining riot grrrl for the 21st century, smashing out bleeding fuzz struts pressed against sweaty post-punk blasts twisted around sweet girl-group vibes. But it’s more than just their beautifully bratty sound that makes you take notice – in addition to feeding the nostalgia of ’90s feminist youth, they’re blasting open the world for alt-tween girls who feel out of place both in their musical tastes and their collective consciousness. And hopefully that’s not just in Philadelphia. After all, as part of their breakthrough 2011, Slutever not only made their first-ever visit to SXSW, but they also hit the road this past summer for their first national tour (they did so by successfully launching a Kickstarter campaign to help fund the asphalt excursion, which offered pledgers a variety of unique gifts including a special Slutever prank call to their enemies and fantastical trip with the gals to the mall). 2011 also saw the release of their first 7-inch vinyl, Pretend to Be Nice via Bantic Media, which included two new songs plus two reworked tracks from 2010’s Sorry I’m Not Sorry; a contribution to Cactus Mouth’s Tears on My Pillow: Part II compilation series (they covered Wanda Jackson’s "Tongue Tied," and it’s the BEST); an exclusive recording of an original song “Rookie” for teen girl website RookieMag.com; a set for the much-loved Revolution Girl Style Again panel at Kelly’s Writer House that took place earlier in the year (they performed at The Rotunda, though, where the panel was live-streaming. All proceeds from show went to Girls Rock Philly.); and much more. If you take away anything from the Slutever experience, it should be this: Snyder and Gagliardi let girls know it’s okay to be strange, and that’s the best gift of all. Look out for more new material from the gals in 2012, which will include work with Fancy Time Studio’s Kyle “Slick” Johnson! (Photo by Randy Rivera) – Annamarya Scaccia

Check out a new track that Power Animal (a.k.a. Keith Hampson) premiered today via The Fader. It’s a remix by Spirituals (a.k.a. Tyler Tadlock) of the title track from Power Animal’s forthcoming album Exorcism, which will be released February 21 via Crash Symbols and his non-profit label Human Kindness Overflowing. All profits from digital sales will be donated to Philabundance, a local charity organization that provides food to the needy in the area. You can take a listen to and download the remix below. (Photo by Eric Ashleigh)

It’s a good day for Philly music! Dr. Dog’s highly-anticipated and soon-to-be classic Be the Void (which you can preview HERE) is now available via Anti- Records, and you can purchase the deluxe edition via iTunes, which includes three bonus tracks. The dark, sexy grooves of Gracie’s Treehouse EP (which you can preview HERE) are also available today via Small Plate Records. Grab the vinyl because you know it sounds better, and it will help support the truly indie record label. Cheers!

Below is a new music video from Sweet Lights for the track “Endless Town,” which premiered via NME. It was directed by Albert Birney and animated by Vanessa Lauria. The song is being released as a single on March 5 via Highline Records, and will have a cover of The Traveling Wilbury’s “End of The Line” as its B-side.

Sweet Lights – Endless Town from Albert Birney

Here’s a new psychedelic garage jam from Bandname called “King of Surfers.” It will appear on their split 7” with DC’s Shat Shorts. This will be the first of three 7” records that Bandname will be releasing this year. There will also be a split with Hot Mess from Massachusetts and a 3-song EP on Philly-based label Evil Weevil Records. Bandname’s next show in Philly will be on Feb. 23 at PiLam with Teenage Cool Kids and Algernon Cadwallader, and it will be the first time the split records will be available.