• Sadly, the Cramps frontman Lux Interior died yesterday of a pre-existing heart condition. Born Eric Lee Purkhiser, Lux formed the Cramps in 1973 with his wife, Kristy Wallace, aka Poison Ivy, whom he supposedly picked up hitching hiking. Fusing 50’s rock, punk, horror films, and sexual fetishism, the Cramps performed consistently over their 30 odd year span and released 13 albums and a slew of singles. While the band’s lineup changed frequently, Lux and Poison Ivy never wavered and became true pioneers of psychobilly and garage rock in general, and their influence can be heard in the sound of innumerable bands ever since.
  R.I.P. Lux!

• A no less theatrical act, Spinal Tap, confirmed that they’ll be recording new material this year, to be released as a digital download first and then in physical form. Bassist Derek Smalls (Harry Shearer) hints that they’ll record “Warmer Than Hell,” performed at Wembley Stadium in 2007 for Live Earth, and possibly as song titled “Gimme Some More Money” — “with probably with some dubious results,” adds Smalls.

• Think you’re going to just slip in to watch Radiohead perform at the Grammys and then slip out? That’s doubtful now that the list of performers has grown to include Stevie Wonder, Neil Diamond, Allen Toussaint, and a so-pregnant-she’ll-deliver-any-moment M.I.A.. And they’re added to the already long list including Coldplay, U2, Paul McCartney with Dave Grohl, Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, Lil Wayne, Kanye West, T.I., Jay-Z, Justin Timberlake, Kid Rock, the Jonas Brothers, Carrie Underwood, Jennifer Hudson, Katy Perry, Kenny Chesney, Rihanna, Estelle, Taylor Swift, Chris Brown, Adele, Sugarland and a Four Tops tribute with Ne-Yo, Jamie Foxx, Duke Fakir, and a tribute to Bo Diddley. All that in less than four hours? Good luck! … and potentially good watching!

• Fleet Foxes fans can check out a new another great video from Sean Pecknold, brother of frontman Robin Pecknold and director of the previous and great stop-motion video for “White Winter Hymnal.” Here’s an exclusive from Pitchfork TV for “Mykonos”:

• Frequent KEXP visitor John Vanderslice announced yesterday that he’s shifted labels, heading over to Dead Oceans, where he’ll release Romanian Names on May 19 — and he’s got a redesigned website to boot. John talked with us while he was in Berkeley last week about the new album, his upcoming tour, and the label change. Check it out here.

• Despite claiming the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200, it seems Bruce Springsteen can’t catch a break lately. He recently apologized for a Wal-mart exclusive release and took a camera to the crotch during his recent Superbowl halftime performance, for which he’s presently facing mild accusations of lip syncing. Now, he’s fuming mad at Ticketmaster, who he claims was redirecting fans buying tickets to his shows to TicketsNow, a secondary broker site where people exchange, trade, and, sell tickets, often with inflated prices. The CEO of Ticketmaster Entertainment, Irving Azoff, has since responded, saying, “While we were genuinely trying to do the right thing for fans in providing more choices when the tickets they requested from the primary on-sale were not available, we clearly missed the mark.”

• In sunnier news, Ezra Furman and the Harpoons finally released a video for “Take Off Your Sunglasses,” which was featured recently as one of KEXP’s Song of the Day podcasts:

Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part our Song of the Day podcast subscription. This podcast features exclusive KEXP in-studio performances, unreleased songs, and recordings from independent artists that our DJs think you should hear. Today’s featured selection, chosen by Morning Show host John Richards, is “Take Off Your Sunglasses” by Ezra Furman & The Harpoons from the 2008 album Inside the Human Body on Minty Fresh.

Ezra Furman & The Harpoons - Take Off Your Sunglasses (MP3)

Long before he was wondering the dormitory halls of Tufts University in Boston, he was simply Ezra Furman, Chicago native and day dreaming poet. Testing out his song writing skills at a young age after receiving a guitar as a Bar Mitzvah gift, he innocently stumbling into what would one day be his destiny. The puzzle was complete once Ezra relocated to Boston for collegiate studies and connected with fellow bandmates, guitarist John Sood, bass guitarist Job Mukkada, and drummer Adam Abrutyn, and the quartet have since found themselves self-releasing an album (Beat Beat Beat) they recorded while still in the college dorms, hitting the streets of New York to play acoustically in between their sets at 2007’s CMJ Music Marathon, and recording in Chicago at Engine Studios with the help of famed producer Brian Deck (Modest Mouse, Iron and Wine). Inside the Human Body, their second on Minty Fresh, maintains the bright-eyed energy and affecting innocence of two previous albums and has already received massive amounts of critical acclaim. “Take Off Your Sunglasses” is a particularly lively track, vocally recalling the oft-name checked Violet Femmes and the more closely contemporary Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Musically, though, it’s a grab bag of influences: you might hear a bit of Neil Young in the harmonica, The Plimsouls in the jangling guitar, The Pretenders or Tom Petty in the melodies, Jonathan Richman in the lyricism, and much more. At a mere 20 years old(!), Ezra Furman, like so many of these free-spirited songwriters, knows how to rock you vigorously but gently with lyrics aimed to make you laugh and break your heart.

There’s not much on the forefront for the band in January. Ezra, sans Harpoons, will perform an acoustic set in Evanston, IL, this Friday and then at an Inaugural party, (no, not the Inaugural Party) at American University in Washington, D.C., on January 24. Check out the band’s impressive website and MySpace page for updates. For now, here’s an early version of “Take Off Your Sunglasses” performed performed at Pianos in NYC just over a year ago: