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The thieves breaking into a band's touring van early on Christmas morning.

UPDATE: Ruiz wrote in to tell us the band, thanks to a tip, has recovered the van. The interior was damaged and merchandise and gear are still missing. "The van will need repairs," writes Ruiz. "But the van is home."

"Downey Police forensics have recovered prints, and footage of the thief from the location where he abandoned the vehicle," continues Ruiz. "They chose to pursue the investigation, in support towards the Lynwood Sheriff's department."

Members of Lynwood act La Resistencia had about the crappiest Christmas morning you can imagine this year.

The skacore band has a recording and rehearsal space in Lynwood, where they normally keep their touring van off the street. On Christmas Eve, however, they moved the van to accomodate a neighbor's Christmas party. "It's only gonna be there a few hours," reasoned La Resistencia drummer Clemente Ruiz.

When Ruiz went to retrieve the van at 3 a.m. on Christmas morning, however, it was gone.

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Kickstarter.com

David Greenwald (left) and Daniel Siegal

Music writers David Greenwald and Daniel Siegal want to create a site for in-depth music reporting and criticism, and they want to pay writers a fair wage to do that work. Sort of like the L.A. Weekly's music section, but they want to do it minus the kind of pageview-driving clickbait -- listicles and slideshows -- that other publications don't do nearly as well as we do.

Called Uncool, it's the kind of idea that you'd think would be immediately and universally embraced by music writers and readers alike...but within days of announcing a Kickstarter to fund the project, its proposal had already set off miniature flamewar on Tumblr, and a month into the campaign, they have only been able to raise a fraction of the project's funding.

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Getting a residency at a club or bar is often a great opportunity for an up-and-coming band, giving them a chance to gradually build a following. But Derek Jordan -- whose band Decoded plays Amplyfi every Thursday in May -- also saw it as an opportunity make a difference. "The small venue made it a great opportunity to do something for the community," he says of the alcohol-free, all-ages spot.

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The subgenre of hardcore called powerviolence is known for heavy riffs, blast beats and a wacky, off-beat sense of kitschy humor. It's also a very tight-knit community. While not immune to the drama and politics that plague every scene, powerviolence denizens tend to have each other's backs when the shit comes down.

Case in point: Since Anti-Christ Demon Core (ACxDC) vocalist Sergio Amalfitano's daughter Savina has run into trouble, the community has rallied. Little Savina is just an infant, but she has a big problem: tetrology of fallot. This means she has a small pulmonary vein as well as a small hole in her tiny heart. For now, she's getting 94 percent of the oxygen she needs. But there are potentially serious consequences. For example, if she gets hurt or cries a lot, she can pass out and turn blue. As she's still a baby, this could cause serious developmental issues; she's already two pounds smaller than her twin sister Azellea.

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The Mowgli's

By Ed Carrasco

Christmas may be over, but lots of local musicians are still hoping for a little seasonal generosity. They're seeking help footing the bill for production of their albums -- remember those? -- and have turned to Kickstarter. You may be feeling tapped out at this time of year, but, hey, the economy's improving, right? Right? Anyway, here are five completely worthy local musicians who will put your shekels to good use.

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Billy Calderon

Colby Evans, one of Sessions LA's producers

Eighteen-year-old Argento Zavala (not his real name) became homeless this summer. After an argument with his mother, he got kicked out of the house. He'd been exposed to drugs since he was in 8th grade, but he began a new daily routine: do meth to stay awake, wander the city during the night, pay a dollar to shower at a hotel, go to school, and make music at a twice-weekly program called Sessions LA.

"He's one of the smartest kids we have, and through that whole thing, Sessions was a way for him to escape the drama. We knew he felt safe here, and it was a way for him to relieve a lot of stuff he was going through by writing and recording his music," says 29-year-old Patrick Huang, aka DJ Phatrick of Native Guns). He's one of the instructors at the helm of Sessions LA, a music writing and recording program for youth in the Rampart District of Los Angeles.

But as of October 1st, that refuge has been threatened. Due to a budget cut, Sessions LA no longer has the financial means to continue its programming. They decided to raise money on their own through an IndieGoGo campaign, setting a goal of $15,000 by December 9th. So far, they've received only about half of that.

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