Friday the 13th. Pretty scary. Is it safe to go out tonight? Well, if you do, there's a great show down at Sokol Underground: STNNNG, The Protoculture, Bombardment Society and The Stay Awake all for just $8. I'm told that The Protoculture will be rolling out a new cover of a Kite Pilot song this evening. And if you haven't seen Bombardment with new bass player Lincoln Dickison (The Monroes), well, you're in for a treat.

If for some reason you've gone crazy and you don't feel like driving downtown, Mark Mallman is "scheduled" to open a show at O'Leaver's with Pendrakes and Jon Yeager Band. Ironically, I mentioned Mallman's show to Chris Besinger of STNNNG, and he said if these two shows were going on simultaneously in Minneapolis, Mallman's show would be the one to sell out. Please Note: Mallman's O'Leaver' show is not listed on his tour page. He was scheduled to play in Fargo last night and in Albuquerque tomorrow. The show's promoter hasn't been able to reach him to confirm tonight's show, so caveat emptor on this one.

If you survive Friday the 13th, you may not be so lucky on the 14th, what with Skull Fight!, Chin Up Chin Up, and Electric Needle Room playing at O'Leaver's. CUCU just released the long player This Harness Can't Ride Anything on Suicide Squeeze. Skull Fight! is the new Cuterthans, but tougher, angrier, maybe not as smarter, but angrier (sort of). Electric Needle Room is one of the guys featured in my Joslyn column from a few weeks ago. I believe this will be his O'Leaver's debut. Will he be great? Will he suck? Find out for $5.

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A bit of Saddle Creek-related news to pass on: In an interview with Billboard (they're getting all the scoops lately), Cursive's Tim Kasher said that the band is writing a new album's worth of music with the intention of hitting the studio in January for a fall release. Kasher also continues to work on his screenplay titled, "Help Wanted Nights." Ain't looking so good for us Good Life fans, as Kasher is unsure when he'll return to that band. Read the whole story here. If you're wondering how Cursive is doing on the road, here's a colorful review of their show in Philly, that starts with "A man has found his way onto the stage of the Starlight Ballroom and he is very, very drunk." and ends with "A smile deep across his face, Kasher thanks everyone post-sing-a-long, bending over and hugging the front row. His sincerity probably only half due to his drinking." Glug-glug-glug...

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