Brooklyn label Sacred Bones Records is fêting its fifth anniversary with a December 21st gig on the edge of the Mojave Desert. Yes, the label “driven by pure originality and style” is retreating to Pioneertown, just down the road from Joshua Tree National Park, to host its celebration at Pappy & Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace with an all-star lineup featuring Zola Jesus, Wymond Miles (of The Fresh & Onlys), Psychic Ills, Cult of Youth, Pop. 1280, Lust for Youth, and “several” mystery special guests.

Why the desert, you ask?

“We wanted to do something really special like a destination event for our bands, friends, and family,” Label Manager Taylor Brode recently told me via email. “I had been to this venue before and have been sort of obsessed with it ever since.”

Founded in 2007 by Denver-native Caleb Braaten, Sacred Bones has become the home to some of the most unique and innovative acts in indie rock. This summer, Braaten and company released “perhaps the most personal of the label’s projects,” a reissue of the soundtrack to David Lynch’s Eraserhead.

The show poster features what appears to be Mayan art, and the party is scheduled for December 21, 2012, the date heralded as the end of the world in the Mayan calendar. This was done by design: “There was also the thought that, if the world really does end, we’d rather be with friends and family out in the desert than annihilated in this city. Surely NYC would be the most brutal place to be if s**t really hits the fan,” Brode told me. “We thought it would be kind of funny given the label’s perceived propensity towards death and darkness to do it on the Mayan apocalypse. The line-up was sort of configured more on logistics than anything. We invited all bands on the label, but not everyone could make it, and everyone that could is playing.”

Unfortunately, the label’s lips are sealed when it comes to the identify of their super-secret special guests down in Pioneertown. “We can’t give out any clues,” Brode said. “But if you look closely at the people we have been working with the past year and the label’s history, it probably wouldn’t be too hard to figure it out.”

So, let the guesswork begin (it looks like Moon Duo’s seemingly never-ending tour wraps up in California in early December – that could be perfect timing for a special appearance at Pappy & Harriet’s just a couple weeks later).

In anticipation of the anniversary party, Sacred Bones released a six-track streaming sampler on SoundCloud, premiering via SPIN. Listen to that preview mixtape below, and check out full details on tickets to Sacred Bones’ fifth anniversary party at the bottom of the post.

Sacred Bones Records 5th Anniversary Party
featuring Zola Jesus, Wymond Miles, Psychic Ills, Cult of Youth,
Pop. 1280, Lust for Youth, and Special Guests
Pappy & Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace (Pioneertown, CA)
December 21, 2012
8pm, $30