Just because I was gone for last week's issue (baking in the Baja sun surrounded by desert and pelican skeletons) doesn't mean I won't report on what happened while I was without modern technology. For example--our own Easy Street Records hosted the national, 10-year anniversary conference for CIMS (the Coalition of Independent Music Stores) topped by a secret, invite-only in-store performance by Pearl Jam--the band's first in over a decade--on April 29 at their West Seattle location. "The store was turned into a venue for the night," says Easy Street's Matt Vaughan. "Two bars were set up. All coalition members and Easy Street staff arrived at 8:00 p.m. Many in attendance had no idea that PJ was going to play." The set included covers of songs by the Avengers, the Dead Kennedys, and Neil Young, as well as an X song with John Doe--who, along with Cameron Crowe, Nancy Wilson, Bobby Bare Jr. , and My Morning Jacket's Jim James, was part of the select audience (only 120 people) for Vedder & Co. Pearl Jam created commemorative posters of the event as gifts for the CIMS stores involved in the pro-indie retailer conference.

And it was a different sort of commemoration--more like a raucous funeral--but the Sunset was packed last weekend for the end of the beloved Ballard Bowl skate park. And who better to help sing the drunken swan songs than local boys the Fakies. The band stormed through tracks off their latest release, Coping, which, appropriately enough, is a paean to the beloved skate site. With titles like "Ballard Bowl," "Hit'n the Lip," and "Seattle Needs More Skateparks," Coping celebrates the tried-and-true culture of skate punk--it's recommended for anyone interested in owning a chunk of local cultural history. Plus the music, which ranges from instrumental surf punk to hardcore, is damned good, too.

And from the good people in the New Mexicans, we now have Crutches. The new locale-less moniker corrals the same members as the New Mexicans, with the addition of Colin Roper (Cobra High). Their War Room debut last week showed the band to still be carrying on their intensely melodic math-rock tradition--and their scorching "Alpine Snow Song" ("the police arrive when you least expect it") is a hit in my book.

Another local band to keep your eyes and ears on are the Emergency, a Jim Diamond-approved garage rock 'n' roll band with a fierce-voiced female singer. They play the Lobo May 14 and Studio 7 May 18.

Lazy victory of the week: Local band Skarp put out the APB on their stolen van/stolen equipment early last week, only to recall the alarm. Turns out that not only did the thieves park their van in an illegal space, but Skarp was behind in paying their parking tickets--causing the cops to tow the van and all its contents to safe harbor at the impound. I still can't figure out if there's a lesson in that one or not.

jennifer@thestranger.com