Pat DiNizio, the lead singer and chief songwriter for The Smithereens, the New Jersey-bred college-rock mainstays who recorded “Behind the Wall of Sleep,” “Only a Memory” and “Blood and Roses,” has died, the band announced tonight on its official website. He was 62. The cause of DiNizio’s death was not revealed.

Original bassist Mike Mesaros is back in The Smithereens fold after a dozen years away, and, in addition to playing sporadic shows with the college-rock graduates, he’ll be on the new album the band is recording and which will be the group’s first in six years. Plus, watch a recent 3-hour set.

The Smithereens will celebrate the 25th anniversary of Green Thoughts next month with a new digital compilation that collects live versions of songs from that album, song demos and radio recordings, much of which was recorded around 1988 — although some of the material comes from the ’90s.

The Smithereens frontma Pat DiNizio has teamed up with jazz musician Christian Josi to record and release a brand-new Christmas single entitled “Holiday 2012” featuring bossa nova takes on holiday standards “Winter Wonderland” and “White Christmas.” Check out their version of “Winter Wonderland.”

The Smithereens — who released the aptly titled ‘2011,’ their first collection of new material in more than a decade, last year — will keep busy this on the road summer, criss-crossing the U.S. to play at least 15 concerts between June and September at a variety of clubs, theaters and a number of small-town festivals

Last week saw the release of ‘Smithereens 2011,’ the first collection of new material from the New Jersey retro-rockers The Smithereens in 11 years. Here’s the video for first single ‘Sorry.’