Philly punk band Ex Friends play The Fire tonight.  The gruff and growling outfit is the side project of Plow United bassist Joel Tannenbaum, who put in calls to local musicians JP Flexner, Audrey Crash and Jayme Guokas to fill out the band’s sound.  Ex Friends released their self-titled full-length on Paper + Plastick Records last September; you can stream the fast-paced, raw LP in full here.  Tickets and information for the all-ages show with Nobody Yet, Welter, Fever Charm and The Adults can be found here.  Below, stream “The Legend of the Holy Drinker” from a recent Ex Friends 7″.

XPN welcomes folk legend Arlo Guthrie to the McCarter Theatre.  Tonight’s performance will be a special tribute to Arlo’s late father and American songmaster Woody Guthrie in celebration of the latter’s 100th birthday.  Throughout his own storied and lengthy career Arlo has followed in his father’s footsteps, speaking out against social injustices and singing for a brighter future.  Tickets and information for this afternoon’s show can be found here.  Go here to watch Arlo perform his father’s “This Land is Your Land” with the Boston Pops.

• On the Defensiveby Aspiga from The Key Studio SessionsDownload

New Jersey rockers Ominous Ominous Ominous play The Balcony at The Trocadero tonight.  The Woodstown, NJ natives have varied influences – ranging from metal to synth-pop to “circus punk folk” band The World/Inferno Friendship Society – but the quartet’s own sound falls steadily in the pure-fun-indie-rock category.  Also playing tonight are Come and Get It and The Ridden Fifths.  Tickets and information for the 21+ show can be found here.  Below, stream and download Ominous Ominous Ominous’ song “Spaceman Date.”

For The Key’s year-in-review, we asked our trusted sources – our writers and photographers, XPN’s on-air staff, fellow bloggers in the Philly scene and even a few musicians – to send us their Top Five Whatevers. Could be the traditional music route – albums, songs, concerts of the year – or it could be only loosely connected. We’ll be sharing these recaps every day through to the end of the year. Today, Plow United bassist, Ex-Friends singer-guitarist and occasional Key contributor Joel Tannenbaum shares his top music news headlines* of 2012.

5. Julio Iglesias releases Saludos desde Asbury Park, NJ, a song-by-song rebuttal to Bruce Springsteen’s Greetings from Asbury Park, NJ. 

4. Joey Sweeney releases digital-only retrospective spanning his 80+ year career.
Early vaudeville material largely ignored.

3. The Spin Doctors’ “Two Princes” certified top-selling mini-disc single of 2012.

2. Ben Nichols of Lucero cast as Eddie in Ang Lee’s Eddie and the Cruisers remake.
Other members of Lucero not cast as Cruisers.

1. Chris Christie realizes lifelong dream of meeting Glenn Danzig.
Meeting facilitated by President Obama during Hurricane Sandy aftermath.

*entirely fabricated

Thanks to Justin Agnew and Tom Kretchmar.

Photo by Isaac Turner

Ohio pop songstress Rebecca Jordan is playing a 21+ show at the Tin Angel tonight. The singer-songwriter has penned hits for performers like John Legend and Kelly Clarkson, and was a 2010 NPR Mountain Stage NewSong Finalist following the release of her bubbly 2010 EP Souvenir, which you can stream here. Tickets for tonight’s 7:30 show can be found on our concert calendar here. Below, check out Jordan’s video for her brand new single, “Eve.”

I knew that I dug what these guys were up to as soon as I saw their video of Ages playing in the back of Johnny Brenda’s. In the year and a half since then, they’ve faithfully documented the Philly scene in videos that range from lo-fi immediacy to multi-camera productions, showcasing the town’s up-and-coming acts as well as buzzing national bands that make their way through. I’m happy to welcome them to this space to talk about what they have in store for the December Tune-Out. All events are at PhilaMOCA (531 N. 12th Street), start at 7:30 p.m.

From Kyle and Dave:

After hearing about the series from John V. at XPN and checking out Pet Milk when Herbie curated we thought it was a really cool idea and contacted Eric at PhilaMOCA about getting involved. We were offered December, so here goes…

Tuesday 12/4
Nightlands performing to 2001: A Space Odyssey – $14 admission

Nightlands is Dave Hartley from The War on Drugs. All of us at BITBY love Nightlands so naturally he was the first person we asked. Dave was super excited to do this when we asked him to participate and he knew right away he wanted to do 2001: A Space Odyssey. Yes, the whole movie, on the big screen, with the dialogue from the film accompanied by an original score performed live by Nightlands. There will be an intermission and we will be serving Narragansett Beer. Jeff Ziegler will be joining Hartley as well. We really wanted to be able to bill the show as Nightlands doing a score to 2001:A space Odyssey and in order to that we had to buy the rights to screen the film for the night which is costly, that is the only reason tickets are a bit pricey for this show. It will be well worth it, though. The super talented Mikele Edwards from Arc In Round will perform a short set before the screening as well.

Tuesday 12/11
Thee, Idea Men with Katie Frank

Two bands we have been seeing a lot of at BITBY lately are going to make this show a fun night. Thee, Idea Men are awesome and we love having them play shows. They are always full of energy and get the crowd going. Katie Frank is the latest release on our BITBYmusic label and her debut Coverd Bridge Road EP will be available at the show. Katie rocks and you will instantly fall in love with her, trust us. After two quick sets from the bands, a classic Cusack film will be shown.

Tuesday 12/18
Ex-Friends

Last in our series we have Ex-Friends (featuring members of Plow United). Awesome punk rock from awesome people. The movie will be announced the day of the show.

Hope to see everyone out at the shows!

Thanks
Kyle, Dave and the rest of BITBY.tv

Australian indie rockers The Temper Trap will be playing tonight at Union Transfer with The Neighbourhood. The Temper Trap, whose 2009 record Conditions skyrocketed to popularity with the single “Sweet Disposition,” released their self-titled sophomore album earlier this year. The show tonight begins at 9; further details can be found here. Check out their video for “Trembling Hands” from The Temper Trap below.

Local punk band Ex Friends, led by Plow United’s Joel Tannenbaum, are playing at North Star Bar tonight. The group’s first 7” for Paper + Plastick Records, No Wonder We Prefer The Dark, was released in September. Their 21+ performance tonight starts at 7 PM; more ticket information can be found here. Below, listen to Ex Friends’ new track “The Legend of the Holy Drinker” from their new EP.

Telford indie band Former Belle is performing tonight at The Balcony at the Trocadero in anticipation of their first full length album, Cathedral. The band released two EPs in 2011, Sounds From The Ground and Ancient Drum, and are prepping material from the new album they’re currently recording. Tonight their 21+ show starts at 9; more details can be found here. Watch the video for “Amsterdam” from Sounds From The Ground.

Photo by Isaac Turner

And now, a great slice of thrash to brighten up your afternoon. Ex-Friends is the new project of Plow United bassist (and sometimes Key contributor) Joel Tannenbaum. The recent Plow reunion got his punk rock action happening again, but as the band’s Facebook bio puts it, “Sean [Rule, drummer] lives 3000 miles away and all this insane energy needs to go somewhere.”

…so I decided to start a band with JP Flexner,who has designed and printed like half the awesome punk rock posters and record covers you’ve seen in the last five years. Joining us are Audrey Crash and Jayme Guokas, who between them have played in about a million Philly basement bands you have never heard of but should have.

The No Wonder We Prefer the Dark 7″ is out tomorrow on Paper + Plastick Records; check out opening track “The Legend of the Holy Drinker” below.