Happy Holidaze everyone. Hope you had a good one. Just about time to put 2004 to rest here... it's been a good year for NT, culminating in "Sweet Cactus" making the PopMatters best albums of 2004 list! We nudged out none other than the Beastie Boys for the .88 slot! That's some crazy shit! We're honored to be on the list, which (we're told) is the result of an extensive polling process of the Pop Matters writers. Big ups to Adam Williams (a great rock 'n roll writer... check out his website) for putting us on his list of faves for the year, and many thanks to the other PM staffers that voted for us, whoever and wherever you are! Other than great publicity, being on the list also served to bolster the band's feeling that doing a full-length album was the way for Neon Thrills to come out of the gate -- so we're stoked the 'lil pony got us on the board! Plus, we're a bunch of old fuddy-duddies who fear the death of the album is imminent. In the age of iPod playlists, 99 cent songs and the almighty single, it seems like the album is a lost art (can I get an Amen?) A lot of emerging bands seem content to put out EPs, and the majority of established bands stack their albums with a couple of singles at the top and a whole lot of filler. (Let's not even get into the death of cover art here, because I could go on forever). Nothing will ever take the place of a great album. It wasn't the easiest route for us to take for our debut, but the blood, sweat and tears that went into it were worth it! We get a lot of feedback from people that really dig the album and have it in heavy rotation, so to everyone that put "Sweet Cactus" on their best-of list for the year, thanks from us! So, here's to 2005! It's shaping up to be even better year for Neon Thrills... All that being said, we'll probably do an EP in early 2005 (HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!) but we'll be setting our sights on another album before long. Happy New Year!!! Come see us at the Mercury Lounge on Friday Jan. 7th and let's party like it's 2005. - Bernie