Power-pop is above all feel-good music, designed to hit all your pleasure centers at once, which makes it a natural fit for Christmas time. Click below for five super-charged riffs to restore your faith in humanity. THE SHITBIRDS - Christmas is a Comin' (May God Bless You) With a name like that you may be expecting sonic assault, but this local troupe, led by elfin chanteuse April March, aims for maximum joy and adorable-ness. &righticonhover=0x333232&text=0x333232&slider=0xF2F2F2&track=0xFFFFFF&border=0xFFFFFF&loader=0x838383&soundFile=http://aprodxn.com/laist/Shitbirds......

As traffic worsens on Ventura Boulevard, a new L.A. City report found that developers could add 3 million square feet of commercial space to the Ventura Boulevard corridor under current zoning rules. If you thought getting from Sepulveda to Van Nuys down Ventura was bad before. Umph... Not sure what to buy that ragamuffin who has everything this holiday season? Franklin Avenue found a great set of Lego-ish toys featuring people in casts, babies......

There are many great lines from this late 60's interview. My favorite is Billy telling Woody that "thou shall not commit immorality." Or Woody saying that not having premarital sex is like "getting your license without taking driving lessons." That and the reference to venereal disease. God Bless YouTube for digging this up.......

There are three months left of American Idol. And judging from last night's show, that's three very long months to whittle down from 12 to the two finalists. The singing overall on the Diana Ross-themed show was pretty lousy, except for a few of the usual suspects: Jordin Sparks (who we think sang a Diana Ross tune from The Land Before Time, Melinda Doolitte belting a song from The Wiz, and show-stopper LaKisha Jones singing......

music for a Valley high American Idol top 3 finalist Katharine McPhee visited Notre Dame High School, her alma mater, and got an official welcome from Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Councilwoman Wendy Greuel. She also drove some high school boys to the brink when she sang "God Bless the Child" (check out the guy on the right). young love The LA Times finds a modern Romeo & Juliet at the racially divided Jefferson High......

It's a cosmetics company. It wants to sell you gifts for your mom. And it's Christian, signing off on its press releases with God Bless. Since LAist as an institution is more godless than "god bless," we were oddly fascinated with the press release we got from Trinity Cosmetics. Bible quotes pepper their website, but we don't imagine they'll be using "this is vanity, and it is an evil disease" anytime soon. They're all......