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Nine. That's the number of shows that the Heyday has actually played. In this week's Beatdown, I speculated that number was fewer than fifty. And before the ink was even dry on that column, I received an e-mail from Heyday bassist Pete Wynn -- whose brother, coincidently, lives at Blast-O-Mat, the DIY venue depicted in Galen Shoe's Eaplugs cartoon this week -- confirming my suspicions. According to Wynn, the Heyday played its first set this past September. So tomorrow night, when the group joins Tifah at the Marquis Theater, it will officially mark numero diez.

Drunk dialing. C'mon, everyone's done it at least once. And those who say they haven't... well, those people are either full of fiction or hardline teetotalers who view abstinence as a virtue. Even if you do happen to fall into the latter category, chances are better than good that you've been unwittingly subjected to the inebriated ritual at least once in your lifetime. (If not, I'm sure we can arrange something, Flanders. What's your number again?)

For the benefit of those who have never been ripped from peaceful slumber at some ungodly hour by a random jackass with an insatiable need to fire off incomprehensible diatribes, allow me to lay out the scene. Speaking as a former habitual offender, I think I can offer some insight into this seemingly inexplicable phenomenon.

Props to Hot IQs for being featured on Spin.com's home page. The link, which has now moved below the fold after being front-and-center earlier this afternoon, features a photo of the band along with a short blurb urging visitors to download "Duck and Cover," from the act's latest effort. Released on the IQs' own imprint, Yaw Action Records, The Dangling Modifer EP -- reviewed last November by Michael Roberts and included in 2006's Moovers and Shakers -- hit shelves nationally today.

The Spin page contains a glowing notice asserting that Modifer is chockful of songs that "make you want to dance through an avalanche" (nice allusion to Colorado, eh) and gives Elaine Acosta the by-now-obligatory nod as the "hot female drummer."

(Sigh.) Is it too much to ask that for once someone acknowledges Acosta's musical ability, rather than just wagging his tongue at her? Believe it or not, the IQs' resident hottie is actually a pretty decent timekeeper.

Anyhow, again, congrats to Hot IQs for getting some dap nationally. After enjoying them as a hometown favorite for years, it's cool to see folks outside of Denver being turned on. -- Dave Herrera

The last time I'd driven by the Blue Corn Lounge, on the corner of 38th and Perry in northwest Denver, it was around 1 a.m. on a Saturday. In the parking lot, a massive dude stood between two maniacally gesturing females. It looked like he was trying to mediate a burgeoning chick fight -- which I'm sure he'd also had a hand in inspiring. The heated confrontation provoked me and Sweetie to circle the block just to rubber neck a little more. (Not that we're all about violence or anything; we're just busybodies like that.)

Anyhow, after that I filed the Blue Corn Lounge as an intriguing roughneck neighborhood dive along the lines of the Viking on Colfax, one just begging to be staked out by me and my voyeuristic crew. And then I promptly forgot about the joint all together.

Circusized Peanuts. What a great name for a record. And as I remembered it, Peanuts was also a pretty kick-ass album. Not quite as good as Deadly Kung Fu Action -- the classic Warlock Pinchers album, which contained the immortal ditty "Morrisey Rides a Cockhorse" -- but pretty kick-ass nonetheless. Prior to this morning, when I downloaded the entire platter off of eMusic, it had been more than a decade since I last heard Peanuts, and at least as long since I'd even given it any thought. As I write this, though, the Pinchers are back on the playlist in heavy rotation. And you know what? Listening to King Scratchie and K.C. Kasum partying like it's 1991, I gotta tell ya: Peanuts sounds every bit as good to me right now as it did back then. -- Dave Herrera

It's death metal Tuesday at the Larimer Lounge. Okay, I made that crap up; there's no official, on-going weekly theme at the Lounge. Nonetheless, that's precisely what's on tap -- too much metal for one hand. Stop by tonight and have your ass handed to by Cryogen, Columbian Necktie, Followed By Silence and Blackout 7.

Of course, if being bludgeoned on a Tuesday winter's eve isn't quite what you had in mind, Dressy Bessy's John Hill brings his Hi-Fi Listening Party to the hi-dive. Meanwhile, across the street, National Blues Arsenal fires up Low Down Dirty Tuesday at 3 Kings Tavern. Or for something a little more interactive, stop by Bender's Tavern to get your karaoke on with the King of Karaoke,Machine Gun Blues bassist Jermaine Smith, or indulge your inner freak and geek with Magic Cyclops's new '80s centric night, MP3J. -- Dave Herrera

Thursday is the new Friday. You got the memo, right? That said, here's some kick ass shows worth checking out tonight...

Vonnegut, Epilogues, (die) Pilot and All Capitals comprise a kickass local bill at the Bluebird, while former Against Tomorrow Sky guitarist/vocalist Mike Stephens' new band Sedalia shares the Larimer Lounge stage with One Way Ticket, Buckskin Stallion and Malas Semillas.

Be there or be talked about ma�ana.

I'm listening to Billy Joel right now, and it's all Chuck Klosterman's fault. That prick. Prompted by a passage that I read earlier this morning in one of his books, Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto, I'm sorting through several of Joel's deep cuts, among them a tune called "Where's the Orchestra," from The Nylon Curtain.

Although I'm familiar with Curtain's hits -- "Allentown," "Pressure" and "Goodnight Saigon" -- honestly, I'd never ventured beyond that. And I suspect that I'm not alone. Klosterman, however, contends that Joel's genius lies in deep cuts.