With the holiday season in full effect, tours are starting to slow down and the show calendar is beginning to get a little bleaker as we approach the end of the month. Bands don't want to tour during the winter. Not only do they want to stay close to home for the holidays, but who wants to drive for hours through treacherous, snow-covered passes? No doubt you all saw the infamous Bleeding Through crash footage from last December where the band's van, carrying all six band members and two crew staff, hit a patch of black ice, resulting in equipment spilled all over the highway. Amazingly, no one was seriously injured, but it was still quite a scare. While touring bands might be taking a break, here in Seattle we have a plethora of excellent local acts to keep things bustling.

On Saturday, December 18, reunited local indie-pop champs Harvey Danger will celebrate the release of their new EP, Sometimes You Have to Work on Christmas (Sometimes), with a double-header at the Crocodile Cafe. The early all-ages show (also featuring Racetrack and Kane Hodder) starts at 5:00 p.m. and costs $12 at the door ($10 if you buy tickets in advance at ticketweb.com).

Three members of the original HD lineup--Sean Nelson, Jeff Lin, and Aaron Huffman--reunited in April, playing their 10-year anniversary show at the Croc in March (Nada Surf's Ira Elliot sat in on the drums). The show was, of course, sold out, and feeding off that success, the band continued to make occasional appearances around the city (including playing to a packed EMP Sky Church during Bumbershoot). For this weekend's shows, Michael Welke will be playing drums (you maybe know him from drumming stints in Heather Duby's band as well as in Water Kill the Sun), and now all of Harvey Danger's younger fans can finally get a glimpse of the band, as this is their first all-ages show since 1999 (excluding Bumbershoot).

And since it's an EP release, don't forget to bring some extra cash to grab a copy of the new record. Not only does it feature the previously unreleased title track, which is one of my favorite holiday songs of all time, but the EP also has a demo version of the affecting "Pike St./Park Slope," a live recording of "Jack the Lion" (originally appearing on Where Have All the Merrymakers Gone?), along with two other unreleased tunes. And grab an extra copy for your Slipknot T-shirt-wearing cousin. He's gotta learn about well-crafted songwriting sometime.

megan@thestranger.com

Need more? You can hear my personal picks for the week on 107.7 The End every Monday and Friday at 8:30 a.m. during DJ No Name's The Morning Alternative.