Trying to make it through another hectic school year and keep a job in these trying economic times while maintaining some semblance of a sane state of mind can all start to feel awfully draining. So it's no surprise that the all-ages action can get a little stagnant this time of year. It's a long ways from summer, but it certainly feels like we're right in the middle of some serious off-season dog days. That might not be what the folks at the Exploding House intended when they named their upcoming free festival Dogwater Dayz, which takes place February 6 and 7, but the event comes right in time to take some tension off your possibly backpack-burdened shoulders.

Twenty-five local bands—including Forrest Friends, Black Tail Dear, Napdance, Letters, and many others—are set to play the festival's two days.

Friday night's show will also be a nice opportunity to catch the loveliness of Bothell dream team Cock and Swan in an intimate setting. The male-female duo mix live instrumentation with crafty computer programming to create somber and hypnotizing orchestral drones. With a sleepy voice possessed of seemingly effortless beauty, singer Ola Hungerford sinks the songs further into an opiate haze than could a whole poppy field on the outskirts of Oz. The fest is a great excuse to have some fun amid all the craziness. So take a little break from gouging your eyes out over midterms, throw on a coat, and make the trek out to the Exploding House to celebrate the season's watery days of dog.

Dogwater Dayz' full schedule is available at www.seattlediy.com.

All-Ages Calendar

Fri Feb 6: Dogwater Dayz: the Correspondents, Cock and Swan, Black Tail Dear, Letters, Werecoons, Medge, Forrest Friends, Merdique, Marlo Eggplant, Dyna*girl, Aural Antithesis, Napdance at the Exploding House, 8 pm, free.

Fri Feb 6: Brett Hite, Trevor Davis, Jackie Mitchell at Q Cafe, 8 pm, $8.

Sat Feb 7: Dogwater Dayz: Michael Perillo, Hecka Ar, Mike Dumovich, Gene Pool, Superchoir, Rokhausen, Foxdye, Dropacat, Nurse I Need First Aid, McFiredrill at the Exploding House, 8 pm, free.