The video was a lot of fun for us. Granted, we try to not take ourselves too seriously, and I think we managed to uphold that standard while still doing the song justice. Pat and his fiancé actually own the house together, so it made recreating his morning routine all the more fun, and for the most part, pretty accurate.

Keep your eyes peeled for an Everyone Everywhere Cup O’ Joe in the video, which you can watch below, and catch By Surprise in concert next Friday, March 8th, when they play Girard Hall with Nicknames, Sparrows, Secret Plot to Destroy the Universe and Pocket.

Photo by Allison Newbold

Emo-inspired South Jersey four-piece By Surprise are making a rare concert appearance tonight at The Barbary, in advance of the January 15 release of their second LP, Criteria. The all-ages show begins at 5 p.m., more information is available here. Below, listen to the title track from their new album.

Lead MC of the Legendary Roots Crew, Black Thought, is playing a solo set tonight at The Blockley in University City. This gives some hope that his long in-the-works solo LP, The Talented Mr. Trotter, might see the light of day. Or it could just be an excuse for him to jam out with a stellar lineup of his friends and contemporaries, including Reef The Lost Cauze (who released the great Reef The Lost Cauze Is Dead on Christmas). The 21+ show begins at 8 p.m., more information can be found here. Below, watch vintage footage of Black Thought freestyling with ?uestlove from the 2000 documentary Freestyle: The Art of Rhyme.

XPN Welcomes quirky / funky singer-songwriter Mike Doughty to The Tin Angel for two shows tonight. The one-time Soul Coughing frontman released his latest solo effort, The Flip Is Another Honey, back in November. The 7:30 show is sold out; tickets still remain for the 10:00 show, more information can be found here. Below, watch Doughty performing “Na Na Nothing” on KEXP.

Philly party-rap duo Moosh & Twist headline the First Unitarian Church tonight. Their latest mixtape, Back To the Basement, is due out in January. For more information on the show, check our concert calendar here; for more on what Moosh and Twist have been up to, read our interview here.

I found out about South Jersey’s Aspiga by accident. I was running late for one of those early all-ages shows at The Fire this winter; they’re astonishingly punctual, so missed the band I’d intended to see (recent Key Studio Sessions stars By Surprise). But I’d already paid the cover, the crowd was still teeming, so I stuck around and took in an impressive set by their good friends and neighbors, today’s Philly Local Phile stars. I dug Aspiga’s showmanship – lots of energy, stage presence and crowd interaction. I admired how their roots obviously lie in pop-punk, but how they stretch that into more ambitious songs done up in a smart, Weakerthans-y way. This weekend Aspiga plays North Star Bar opening for Smoking Popes; I recommend showing up early for this one.

• Tenseby AspigaDownload

Want to hear more? Click here to listen to the full sessions by all 17 local acts. You can also download The Key Studio Sessions Compilation, Volume One in its entirety as a .zip file.

The first time I caught By Surprise, it was at the North Star Bar in 2007 for one of those ill-programmed, poorly-attended shows that are as lonely and demoralizing for the audience as they are for the artist. My presence was very much at the urging of guitarist Rob Wilcox, who was at the time my co-DJ at Y-Rock, and I was curious to see what dude’s band could do. I definitely picked up what it was throwing down: digable nods to the late-’90s/early-’00s emo underground (the references I made in my Philly Phile last week). But something—blame the night, blame the lineup—didn’t seem quite there. Certainly not like the By Surprise I saw perform with a renewed energy two years later at The Blockley—and certainly not like the By Surprise that stormed our studio last week armed with a setlist of new songs, a lot of caffineation, some vegan pizza, and the rock-and-roll willingness to slam out their stuff, screw the small mistakes, and leave a pint of blood on the studio floor. (Note to XPN engineering: no blood was actually left on the studio floor and I don’t know what those stains are.)

Guest engineer Maddie Lesperance mixed the feisty Douglas Adams ref-ing “So Long And Thanks For All The Shark Jaws” and the heartbreaking “Direct Loans” while I snapped photos of the band in action. I mixed the rest (particularly loved the guitar interplay on “$600 Exorcism”) and came to a realization: so many groups hit hard and burn out fast. By Surprise has, over time, worked its way up to this point: having such an impactful presence in performance; playing with the confidence that comes with doing what you love because you love it; releasing a full-length album that’s as sonically rich and enjoyable as Mountain Smashers. Yesterday, Wilcox made a similar “slow and steady” observation in a heartfelt post on his Tumblr: “When your only desire is to make something as simple as ‘an album’ with your buddies, and hope someone gives a damn, the end result is far more rewarding. We’ve always gone about things at our own pace, and hoped that someone along the way would take a moment to enjoy it for its simplicity.” Mountain Smashers came out yesterday, the session tracks are below. I enjoy them and hope you do too.

• $600 Exorcismfrom The Key Studio Sessions 4/6/11Download

• Books By Thoreaufrom The Key Studio Sessions 4/6/11Download

• Direct Loansfrom The Key Studio Sessions 4/6/11Download

• Ode To Pollardfrom The Key Studio Sessions 4/6/11Download

• Realometerfrom The Key Studio Sessions 4/6/11Download

• So Long And Thanks For All The Shark Jawsfrom The Key Studio Sessions 4/6/11Download

• Realometerby By Surprise from Mountain SmashersDownload