The scene was electric outside of Los Angeles' Hollywood & Highland open-air mall on Friday evening. A huge line snaked out into the streets, and much of the crowd looked strikingly similar: gaggles of teenage girls (plus guys, moms, dads, and little ones) in black T-shirts emblazoned with five key words: The Twilight Saga: New Moon.

How's this for a great concept: The words of legendary Beat poet Jack Kerouac set to song by a pining indie-pop prince and an alt-Americana forefather. And when Ben Gibbard (Death Cab For Cutie, The Postal Service) and Jay Farrar (Son Volt, Uncle Tupelo) came together at Los Angeles' El Rey Theatre on Friday night, their performance felt about as organic as the text that inspired it.

This week, Vampire Weekend leaked the first single from their upcoming album, while Death Cab chased vampires in their new song from Twilight sequel New Moon. Plus, Chris Cornell joined Pearl Jam onstage, Pavement announced a new show, Austin City Limits rolled into Texas, and much more.

They've been a chart-topping band for the past few years, but Death Cab for Cutie's new video for "Meet Me on the Equinox," the lead single from the star-studded soundtrack to Twlight sequel New Moon, is their most unabashed stab at pop crossover yet.

Newlywed Death Cab for Cutie leader Ben Gibbard and Son Volt singer Jay Farrar have interpreted Jack Kerouac's 1962 novel Big Sur for their new album, One Fast Move or I'm Gone.

It was like the indie rock prom, and they were the king and queen.