Chris Are & Buddy Leezle combine forces to form Capricorn Rising. Featured on their self-titled debut EP, “Capricorn” taps into its zodiac origin. Injecting fragments of instructional/informative recordings as triggering transitions, the track rolls in over the snap and chime of a retro beat. Juxtaposing the quick-witted confidence of the rhyme with the computerized contextualization, it’s a grimy guide. Sit back, listen and learn.

"Dark prom pop" purveyors Blood Sound plan to release their debut EP, as a duo, in 2018. However, before that happens, they wanted to share a collection of their favorite recordings with Chris J., who has decided to ride off on his new motorcycle towards the next phase of his life. Sink into your own stratosphere with Everything Is Always in the Past, as the sleek synths and pulse-pacing rhythms demand for you to dance in the dark. Before turning the page to a New Year/new beginning, embrace the memories of this sonic snapshot.

From frantic fuzzed-out stampedes to more subdued, emotively laced moments of melody, Ten Thousand Years, the new album from Pet, strikes a personal note. Jostling between mellowed exposures and friction-fueled fury, the collection is reassuringly unpredictable. Rollercoasting in a volatile vibrancy, it exhibits smoldering self-reevaluations, leading to tension/pressure-releasing ends.

Krust Toons: "Merry X-Mas" by Tedd Hazard – please feel free to drop him a line at teddandthehazards@gmail.com if you dig or have any funny ideas. You can also check out more of his illustrations and animation shorts HERE.

Meshing a traditional country-blues feel, anchored on an accessible storytelling foundation, there’s a spectrum of gut-wrenching, emotional outpouring and simultaneous threads of tenderness in the music of the Levee Drivers. Those familiarly worn, vital vocals of August John Lutz II roar in a rabble-rousing fashion, as each spirited song is on the verge of tearing the listener to piece. Surrounded by an incendiary, dusk-light, dusty-road stomp, the band is hardwired to a heart-aching but optimistic duality, stinging with sincerity, as evidenced by their latest album Motel City Honey. Tonight, as part of the Big Damn Holiday Brawl at Ortlieb’s, they’ll be joined by the soul-grasping, country rock of Ali Wadsworth, the melodic, energy-infused garage rock of Scantron, and silky-serenading, retrofitted country-folk of Dirty Dollhouse. Get rowdy this holiday weekend! – Michael Colavita

More places to wet your whistle at this Christmas weekend…

Ortlieb’s Lounge (847 N. 3^rd St.) FRI Levee Drivers, Ali Wadsworth, Scantron, Dirty Dollhouse, SAT Thunderbird, Gibbous Moon

Boot & Saddle (1131 S. Broad St.) FRI Southwork, Circadian Rhythms, Miss Cantaloupe

Kung Fu Necktie (1250 N. Front St.) FRI Frost Giant, Corpse Hoarder, Wolves Attack /It’s a King Thing, Joy Riding, The Classic Brown/DJSC/Trieves: Jesse Tyler, Sean Hearn, SAT Slingshot Dakota/Solomonic Sound System

PhilaMOCA (531 N. 12^th St.) FRI Voltheque, Cheap Dinosaurs

Underground Arts (1200 Callowhill St.) SAT Mars Parker, Harvey Cash, KilConfirmed, Juso O, Sodacanman, Corey Lee, Re.ye

World Café Live (3025 Walnut St.) FRI (Upstairs) Annabelle Kempf, The Soundcheck, The Disapproved, Julia Kenyon, The Brandywine Fiddlers/(Downstairs) Steal Your Peach, The Whiskeyhickon Boys, SAT GTS Presents: 3^rd Annual Rockmare Before Christmas

MilkBoy Philly (1100 Chestnut St.) FRI Tweed, Agent Zero

Bourbon & Branch (705 N. 2^nd St.) FRI Behind The Grandstand, La Capitaña/Reed Streets, SAT Kingfisher, Tucker Hill Band, Sitting In Cars

Silk City (435 Spring Garden St.) FRI Ed Christof, SAT DJ Deejay

Fergie’s (1214 Sansom St.) SAT Jersey Corn Pickers, SUN Rusty Cadillac

Connie’s Ric Rac (1132 S. 9^th St.) FRI The Plibmen. Mr. Unloved, KMX Band

Frankie Bradley’s (1320 Chancellor St.) FRI DJ Chris Urban, SAT Brian Toll

Voltage Lounge (421 N. 7^th St.) FRI FV

The Grape Room (105 Grape St.) FRI Something Divine, Slow Voice, Judah Kim & The Assassination, Kevin Cox Band, SAT Apple Juice Jones

Ardmore Music Hall (23 E. Lancaster Ave.) FRI Kings & Comrades, SAT Electron, Eat Your Beats

The Guests will be self-releasing their forthcoming album, Popular Music, on February 9. “Climb The Ladder” smoothly and steadily matriculates, riding a rhythmic synth-led foundation. Sleek melodies negotiate through the mystery lying in darkness. Tonight, the band is slated on a billing at Cousin Danny’s that will also include Dridge, Zorn, Somnium Mori, and Deep Tissue.

It seems that a genuine love for the guitar is the catalyst for bringing Zack Krall into the world of songwriting. With what sounds like an insatiable appetite for music, the young artist continues to take in his surroundings, weaving them into the tapestry of his latest recordings. Krall recently shared his new "That Girl," which finds him at the crossroads of Jack White-inspired rock ‘n’ roll blues licks and Beatles psychedelia, and is looking forward to releasing his debut full-length album in the coming year. However, before Breathe drops in February, you can read more about our final Deli Philly Featured Artist(s) Poll Winner of 2017 HERE.

Before bidding adieu, the hardcore quintet of S-21 released its second and final EP. Operation Menu serves a primal, pummeling blast of unfiltered energy. Channeling pent up frustrations into raw musical determination, the release rumbles and shreds through barriers. Available via Sugarsalt Records and World Gone Mad Records, a portion of the pressing sales will be given to non-profits that benefit refugees, displaced people and immigrants, and all proceeds from digital sales will be donated as well.

Punk trio The Barren Marys contributed two track to Political Party, a new split release with Teenage Bigfoot. Both “Dumb” and “Nothings Gonna Change” were recorded at Brooklyn’s Converse Rubber Track Studios. Both serve as an indictment of the current political environment, “Dumb” is enthusiastically snarky, while “Nothings Gonna Change” tears through the facade of faux transformation. Fellow Philadelphians Teenage Bigfoot inject a bounce in your step with "Vagrant" and "Gringo," before the banjo plucks and strums of "Inkstains" provide a melodic farewell to a toxic relationship.

While most of the world is busy geeking out to The Last Jedi, we felt that this standout from Vinny Wit Da Swag‘s new album, Trust Noman, might be fitting for this morning. Produced by Winnipeg’s Crabskull, "Star Wars" reflects a world that seems to be up to no good (which feels kind of familiar right about now). There is also a featured appearance on the single by "Dart Vader".

Paul Marchesani (of Cerulean Blue) captains the electro-experimenting Forest Kids Collective, who recently released a new EP. Storefront swims in a mellow, dance-catalyzing realm; entrenching, ethereal grooves cause a levitating, ambient effect. Illuminating the details held within one’s surroundings, while simultaneously inducing a peaceful state, the music naturally flows, revealing subtle, hallucinatory nuances along the way.

Krust Toons: "Cool Name or Not" by Tedd Hazard – please feel free to drop him a line at teddandthehazards@gmail.com if you dig or have any funny ideas. You can also check out more of his illustrations and animation shorts HERE.