Former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan’s got a full load on his hands between media rounds and bank deposits while promoting his new book, What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington’s Culture of Deception. The book is a scathing indictment of the Bush administration by one of the chief pitchmen for a massive, flag-draped bag of lies that enabled the hijacking of an entire nation during three of the most crucial years this generation has ever seen. If that strikes you as contradictory, hypocritical even, then buckle the fuck up, because there’s a lot more to be found under this rock.

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I’m sure you’ve heard of ‘em by now: two hipster rappers out of Chicago called the Cool Kids, riding an 80’s nostalgia MySpace tide with their Black Mags track. Propelled by the no-really-it’s-still-ironic rope chains and mid-eighties douchewear gimmick, the duo have become the darlings of the white hipster scene. But when a group calls themselves the “black Beastie Boys,” the red flag is visible from outer space.

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Break out the propane and carcass, fill the pool, it’s Memorial Day. While the more traditional towns are holding parades and ceremonies to honor the million American servicemen and women who have given their lives for this country, President Bush thoughtfully asked Americans to pay tribute to veterans by pausing today for “a moment of remembrance.”

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Last month, I had a few not entirely coherent things to say about the leaked cuts from Scarlett Johansson’s Tom Waits tribute album, Anywhere I Lay My Head. And ultimately, I had no idea what to make of it.

So the album dropped on Tuesday, and while I had it in hand last weekend, I had to wait through a brief addiction to the new Death Cab For Cutie before I could get around to listening to it in its entirety to try and get a better idea of what the fuck to file it under.

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Billie Joe Armstrong, Tre Cool and Mike Dirnt are tripping hard down memory lane with Stop Drop And Roll, the latest Green Day album. Except it’s not Green Day. It’s the Foxboro Hot Tubs. Like The Network and Pinhead Gunpowder before them, Foxboro are another musical escape for Armstrong and Co. from the standard pop-punk format that’s made them all massive millionaires.

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I can’t speak for you, or anybody besides my own damned self for that matter, but Narrow Stairs, the latest studio effort from Death Cab For Cutie, has earned them at least one new fan. It doesn’t possess nearly as much pensive, sleepy mortality as 2005’s Plans, but maintains a familiar musical personality while adding many more colors to their palette. This was no doubt aided in no small part by producer-guitarist Chris Walla, who’s also laid wax with indie darlings The Decemebrists, as well as Tegan And Sara. Considerably darker and more introspective this time around, Death Cab For Cutie comfortably flex all their muscles on Narrow Stairs with excellent results.

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Back in January, when Weezer mastermind Rivers Cuomo told fans to expect “longer songs, non-traditional song forms, different people writing and singing, instrument switching, TR-808s, synths, Southern rap and baroque counterpoint,” we should have taken him more seriously. The Red Album completes Weezer’s homage to primary colors, and despite a shockingly bad collection of lyrics, it could also be their best release yet. Only eight tracks of the expected ten have leaked so far, and the album’s not due to hit until June 3rd. However, these tracks confirm that, with the help of Rick Rubin and Jacknife Lee, Rivers Cuomo and Co. have set a creative high watermark for themselves by adding new colors to the familiar palette, complete with unexpected blind turns and trap doors.

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