Disregard the petty antagonism Flight of the Conchords has been perpetrating; the beef between New Zealand and Australia is exaggerated ... sorta. Kiwi band Cut Off Your Hands set the record straight at their recent Interface taping, wherein they performed songs off 'You and I.' "I guess it's a bit of fun really," singer Nick Johnston tells Spinner. "[New Zealand is] the younger brother. [Australia is] just a lot more arrogant and cocky."

Cut Off Your Hands have been rather busy over the past few years, dealing with a forced name change, releasing albums on several different labels, recording with famed producer Bernard Butler and, of course, touring. Still, Johnston's singular focus remains steadfast. "My goal is to write music which can still be relevant in a few years time, but also has something more to it that's a little raw or loud or really fast," he says. "[Even] if nothing goes well, you still have the songs you love playing each night, because you're playing them 150 times a year."

M. Ward released his new album, 'Hold Time,' this week, and it's not a bad way to start off the a new year, given his prolific activity in 2008. Ward's collaboration with actress/singer Zooey Deschanel, She and Him, was a staple on many critics' top-ten lists, as well as a fan favorite. Ward isn't giving up many details on the status of She and Him's sophomore release, though. He tells Spinner that the loose target date is sometime in 2010, as they're only in the demo stage, "but it's gonna be very, very good." We'll take his word for it.

Meanwhile, Ward is focusing on his own efforts. "['Hold Time'] comes from the belief that music is a better way to capture time for me than any of the other millions of ways," he tells Spinner of the album's inspiration. The effort features a variety of guest vocalists, including Ms. Deschanel, ex-Grandaddy frontman Jason Lytle and Lucinda Williams. "During the production of [the song] 'Oh Lonesome Me,' I started hearing [Lucinda's] voice ... so we decided to ask her," he says. He also explains that he and Lytle have been friends for many years. "His music has also been a great inspiration growing up."

Mars Volta guitar player and musical mastermind Omar Rodriguez-Lopez's tells Spinner that the next two Mars Volta records are already recorded and waiting for a release date -- this on the heels of a Grammy nomination for 'Wax Simulcra,' off last year's 'The Bedlam in Goliath.' Of course, the first of these won't see the light of day until at least this spring, as vocals need to be recorded and additional tweaking may be necessary. And Rodriguez-Lopez isn't giving any possible titles away.

"I gave the band a six-month break," he says. "I'm not trying to force my pace. I'll just be here doing what I'm doing, recording more albums. When the time comes, the time comes."

HBO offered up a sneak peak of the new season of Flight of the Conchords at LA's Natural History Museum on Wednesday night, and one thing's certain, the Kiwi duo of Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement won't be nose-diving into a sophomore slump.

The first episode has been available for viewing at Funnyordie.com for a few weeks now, so let's jump into the second one. After Bret bankrupts the band by buying a cup for $2.49, the guys are forced to turn to prostitution to make ends meet. This venture, as usual, is less than successful. Along the way, their manager, Murray, falls victim to a Nigerian email scam, further depleting their funds and forcing them to perform shows armed only with air guitars.

The episode contains two seriously composed but entirely ludicrous songs. The first is a Timbaland-style production about how sexy Bret and Jemaine's dangling "sugar lumps" are, and the second is a reggae riff on 'Roxanne' with reaffirming lyrics like, "You don't have to be a prostitute/You can say no to being a man ho."

Radiohead openers and indie L.A. faves the Liars recently released a digital EP, 'Freak Out,' a compilation featuring tracks from last year's self-titled album and several videos from their last few records. While it may not be much-anticipated new music, singer Angus Andrew says there's a reason for this.

"What we wanted to do was get that song out a bit more -- the 'Freak Out' song," Andrew explains to Spinner. "We were certainly finding that when we were playing live across America and Europe, that somehow was the audience favorite. It really is more of a record company decision. In the middle of the whole thing, we're like, 'Awesome. Do it. Whatever.'"

The EP actually only has two songs, the title track and a live version of 'Clear Island.' The rest are videos, including an eerie and effective rendering 'Plaster Casts of Everything' that recalls David Lynch's 'Lost Highway.' "What was interesting about doing that video, particularly, was we had never really handed over the reigns of creativity to anyone before," Andrew says. "Even remixes were difficult for us. We met up with Patrick Daughters, an old friend of ours, and basically just gave him free run. In the end, we were just directed as actors. It wasn't until it was finished that we saw it."

If you're thinking of messing with Jay Reatard's equipment or grabbing his guitar at one of his shows, think again. He's got a temper and he's not afraid to use it. "There's always people that think it's fun to go after the guy with the short fuse, to try to push his buttons," he tells Spinner. "Most of the time I chalk it up to people being drunk. When you get drunk, [you're] thinking... 'Let me do something stupid to be involved in the show.'" Got it? Good.

Reatard's 2006 solo debut, 'Blood Visions,' finally began to pick up accolades and gain attention almost a year after its initial release. He wasn't surprised, as his goals for the record weren't very lofty to begin with. "It's just some songs I wrote in two or three days," he says. "It was a transitional thing. After a while, I got bored and decided to tour for it. Once I did that, it started growing. People started finding out about it and reviews started coming out for it six months after its release."

Glowing reviews and fan appreciation ultimately lead to a deal with Matador Records, with Reatard releasing a series of limited-edition 7-inch singles that will eventually be compiled into a CD release for those not keen on vinyl. Though his first proper album for the label isn't due until next year, In the Red recently released a collection of singles he recorded from 2006-2007 called, appropriately, 'Singles 2006–2007.' The album is chock-full of Reatard's catchy quirk-punk, like the zombie-themed 'All Wasted.' "Memphis has our version of zombies, these massively dehydrated crackheads," Reatard explains. "If you drive down Cleveland Ave. at night, you feel like you're in a Romero flick or something."

The war on drugs may be something of a failed policy as far as government initiatives are concerned, but, musically, the concept has been injected with a newfound vigor. Philadelphia's the War on Drugs may not exactly be what Ronald Reagan envisioned in his campaign against substance abuse, but their new album, 'Wagonwheel Blues,' is as addictive as crack.

The band's unique take on traditional rock music realizes the potential of combining experimental ambience and looped samples with bluesy storytelling and rollicking chord progressions. The nine songs that comprise the record are the work of singer Adam Granduciel, a California transplant who, along with friend and bandmate Kurt Vile, has been formulating a dreamy Bob Dylan-meets-Sonic Youth haze for several years. "['Wagonwheel Blues'] took the last six years of my life," Granduciel tells Spinner. "[It] was recorded in so many different places, at so many stages of my own personal recording experience. I love the way the record sounds."

Granduciel says he never had grand aspirations for the songs he was recording in his home studio, and only hooked up with indie label Secretly Canadian through the good intentions of a friend in the band Windsor for the Derby. "He ended up sending [the label] rough mixes I had given to him to listen to on his computer," he recalls. "He's like, 'Hope you don't mind, I sent these to Secretly Canadian.' I was like, 'That was stupid. Why'd you do that?'"