Federal Way police chief Brian Wilson (second most generic white guy name ever) received a verbal reprimand from the city manager for hitting another car while checking his Blackberry. And he wasn’t even drunk. He didn’t reek of weed, didn’t have prescription painkillers strewn across his dashboard, nor did any Rainier cans fall from his car at the scene. So, as is the custom for Federal Way po-po for their first crash, he just got a stern talking-to. more ›

The Seattle Weekly just brought this Fleet Foxes tidbit to our attention--we didn't realize this, but the Wall Street Journal has a popular music critic, one Mr. Jim Fusilli. In an effort to cross generational gaps, he wrote a story about the Brian-Wilson-flavored harmonies in vogue with the kids today (Starling Electric, Fleet Foxes, Bon Iver), and even rang up the Fleet Foxes' Robin Pecknold for an interview. Pecknold is always interview gold. The money quote follows: "We weren't coming at it from a jazz point of view," said Mr. Pecknold, who is 22 years old. "We wanted something simple, like old folk music." Strict, structured harmonies "can sound too lush, too '70s, too 'Hall & Oatesy,'" he added. "It's better when you experiment and find different notes to sing." more ›

Jason Holstrom may be known as a founding member of two local bands, Wonderful and United State of Electronica, as well as a producer for such acts as Dolour and Aqueduct, but now he's got a new group up his sleeve: The Thieves of Kailua, a one-man island-pop project. Through its sunny surf sounds, layered loungey vocals, and a mixture of production techniques both old and new, the self-titled album evokes a Hawaiian vacation--starting with the visitor's first enchanting aloha, the typical tourist encounters, and a brief brush with the titular thieves, all the way to a bittersweet "Hula-Bye." We spoke to Jason about his island adventures on the cusp of the Thieves of Kailua's CD release show: Thursday at Chop Suey, $8, doors 9pm, 21+. more ›

Kirsten Anderson emailed Seattlest to remind us that Tales of the Rat Fink, the new film about hot rod legend Ed "Big Daddy" Roth, opened tonight at the Grand Illusion. From their website:

From the award-winning director of Comic Book Confidential and Grass comes Tales Of The Rat Fink, Ron Mann’s wildly inventive biopic about influential Renaissance man Ed “Big Daddy” Roth, who engineered a shift in mid-twentieth century culture with his customized cars, “monster” T-shirts and America’s alternative rodent – “Rat Fink.” Ed Roth helped fuel the “Kustom Kulture” / Hot Rod movement of the 1960s in Southern California and Hot Rodding grew from crude backyard engineering where performance was the bottom line into a refined artform where aesthetics were equally important. Mann’s largely animated documentary features the voice talents of John Goodman, Ann-Margret, Brian Wilson, Tom Wolfe, Matt Groening, Robert Williams, Stone Cold Steve Austin and the ever lovable Smothers Brothers.