On this episode of the Jersey Beat podcast...

Mikey Erg - Heartbreak No. 53 Venomous Pinks - We Do It Better Up For Nothing - Escape Route Human Adult Band - Peace To You Sister, The Young Rochelles - Interstellar Communication The Bleeding Hearts - Gone Permanent Mistakes - 35 Burnout The Happy Fits - Changes Spygenius - I Dig Your New Robes, Pierre Brad Marino - Sad & Lonely Nights The Royal Podencos - Maybe The Legendary Swagger - She Drive-By Truckers - Welcome To Club XIII James Calleo - Pickles Jason Didner - This Man's Eyes Shane Cooley - Stellay Ray Abbie Gardner - Honky Tonk Song GRIM DEEDS - Unreliable Narrator Semantics - Get In The Car SACK - I Hate Brian Wilson Screeching Weasel - Any Minute NMow

The Ergs! - "Ultimate Falsetto Book" Delay - Friends Band J Prozac - Won't Let Go Dentist - Spilled Coffee Weekend Recovery - No Guts, No Glory Vic Ruggiero & Kepi Ghoulie - "It Wasn't Me" Shonda & The Howlers - "Used To Call Me Baby" Stop Calling Me Frank - "Hard Lovin' Man" Miss Georgia Peach - "You Blow My Mind" Ricky Rochelle - "Yeti In The Snow" Mickey Leigh's Mutated Music - "Standing In The Dark" My Son The Doctor - "King Of The Zoomers" GRIM DEEDS - "Strung Me Along" Bitch - "You're The Man" Hans Condor - "All Messed Up On Death Metal & Stuff" The Challenged - "Remain (safe keeping)" Aeon Station - "Better Love" David Heatley - "Life Our Own Way" Doug Hoekstra - "Seaside Town" Gerry Rosenthal - "In Common" The Craig Torso Show - "Conflagration Vespers" The Porchistas - "Keep Your Distance" Jeffrey Lewis - "I Wanna Be Vaccinated"

My guest for this episode is Dan Schafer, aka Dan Vapid of Screeching Weasel, the Queers, the Riverdales, the Methadones, Noise On Numbers, and most recently, Dan Vapid & The Cheats.  Their 2021 album "Escape Velocity" was one of my favorite punk albums of the year, so in this interview we talk about how and when it was recorded, Dan's approach to songwriting, and we chat about listening to music and life during the pandemic. This episode of the podcast features four songs from Escape Velocity: Middle America The Talk Runaway Jane Midnight Blue You can find Dan Vapid & The Cheats on Facebook, Instagram, and all major streaming platforms.

It's our annual Christmas podcast, with over an hour of indie, alternative, and punk holiday music. Enjoy whatever holiday you celebrate at this time of year, and thank you for listening. LCars - Wet Bandit's Lament Aquadolls - Christmas Wrapping Chutzpah - Chanukah's The Bomb Peachcake - What Happens When Santa's Sleigh Gets Lost Peppermint Kicks - It's A Peppermint Christmas The Weeklings - A Very Merry Christmas The Yule Logs - Northpole 457899 Vista Blue - Santa Don't Pass Me By Bright N Early - All I Want For Christmas Is You Eye Spy - A Christmas Night Canon Logic - Kiss Me On Christmas The Connection - Merry Christmas (I Don't Want To Fight Tonight) Gypsy Moths - Maybe This Christmas Modesty Blaise - I'll Be Home For Christmas Yawn Mower - Santa Claus Is Coming To Town Two Inch Winky - All I Want For Christmas Is Beer Winston Rauch - Jersey Christmas Slow Club - Christmas Baby (Please Come Home) Shane Cooley - Holidaze Piney Gir - Snow, Snow, Beautiful Snow Prayer For Animals - Riptide Yuletide The Sleepy Rebels - California Christmas Neil Nathan - Santa Claus Is Coming To Town Stop Calling Me Frank - Some Kind of Christmas The Mynabirds - All I Want For Christmas Is Truth Jim Testa - (It's Another) Covid Christmas

The Front Bottoms - Voodoo Magic The Great American Novel - This Will Not Be Our Year Rockstar Racecar - Created A Monster Precious Bones - All She Wants The Happy Fits - Another Try Dummy - Daffodils Emperor of Ice Cream - Weather Vane Dangereens - Streets Of Doom The Kowalskis - I Love You Parker Longbough - Fake Sinatra Namesake - I'm Sick Hippo Campus - Bad Dream Baby The dt's - You With Me Acid Tongue - All Out Of Time Future Crib - Most Likely Never Going To Die Hand Drawn Maps - Catch A Wave Sweet Nobody - Other Humans Pale Lips - Candy mazie - I Think I Wanna Be Left Alone Mr. Goblin - Left Before Your Set

Jack Skuller - Only Getting Older The Great American Novel - Grabbin' A Slice The Clydes - Modern Girl The Anderson Council - Girl Don't Tell Me Gregory McLoughlin - Liftoff Tom Barrett - Some Grow Wings Vista Blue - Back To The Summer Olympics Lauren Banjo - Hang In There The Cheats - Rock N Roll Loveletter Geoff Palmer - Tomorrow Lysa Mychols & Super 8 - Don't Worry Baby Thought Leaders - Jane Doe's Estate Weekend Recovery - Yeah! Los Chicos - The Prize Bite Me Bambi - Our Lips Are Sealed The Demographic - Descent Woody & Jeremy - My Old Bassist Richard Barone & Johnathan Pushkar - I Get Around Colin Moulding - The Hardest Battle Future Crib - Most Likely Never Going To Die John LInnell - Haec Quoque Est Res Jerry Lehane & Dicky Barrett - Drinking Life

Rockstar Racecar - Rock N Roll In America Capitalist Kids - Real Americans The Credentials - I Killed 22 Iraquis And All I Got Was This Lousy Engineering Degree The Mr. T Experience - God Bless America Peter Stampfel & The Bottlecaps - Drink American The Stigmatics - American Dream The Steve Adamyk Band - I Fought For The USA Rick Barry - Stupid American Song Cathedral Ceilings - Hamilton Circuits The '94 Knicks - People You Know And People You May Not Know Jack Skuller - Anyhow LCARS - A Song For The Cicadas Of Brood X, 2021 (To You, In 17 Years) Emergencies - Hurt Somebody sonofdov - Reviver aBIRD - Nothing Like Us Disaster Party - Beige Turns Black Turnpike Gates - City In Heat Izzy True - New Fruit Raincrowd - Can't We All Just Get Along Nihilocerous - Iamananimal Acid Tongue - Rock N Roll Revelations

The Cucumbers - Do It Yourself Dentist - Let Me Let Go Last Minet - Don't Hold Back Lastwaves - Stroke of Luck Lost In Society - Say Anything NO ICE - Frequency Bathroom Of The Future - Watching Bill & Ted Outside Geoff Palmer - Many More Drugs Clowns - Does It Matter? French Girls - Summertime Beatnik Termites - Pet Shop Girl American Television - American Jesus Chelsea Curve - All In Time Danny Laj & The Works - You & Me Hard Nips - Alternative Dreamland Irmans - I Wanna See You Middle-Aged Queers - Size Queen Talk Show Host - Warmest Condolences Tim Foljahn - I Can't Decide Virginity - Nosferattitude (The Vampire Song) The Peppermint Sticks - Hey Fanzine!

Editor Jim Testa interviews Ira Robbins on his new book Music In A Word, a combination anthology and memoir about his life and career as a music journalist.