Artist: As I Lay Dying

Song: "Nothing Left" (from the CD An Ocean Between Us)

Heard By: James Younger, Clairemont

It reminds me a lot of really early Type O Negative. It's actually pretty decent; I was surprised. It's very polished for a local San Diego metal band. I'm actually interested in listening to the rest of the album. I normally listen to progressive trance and house, but I [also] listen to a lot of industrial like KMDFM, Ministry, and Pigface, so this would be something that I'm interested in. It seems like they definitely know what they're doing in the studio. I'd be interested to hear them live to see how they'd perform. I think that's the acid test for any metal band. That would be a good song for...well, I'm in the military, and we'll just leave it at that.

Artist: Da Bears

Song: "Cage of Ribs" (from the CD The World Famous...)

Heard By: Colin Donnelly, North Park

It started out sounding like "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and then came the first verse and I couldn't really understand what the singer was saying. I couldn't hear what the damn words were, and that was throwing me off. I was sitting there trying to wonder what he was mumbling about. I totally lost interest halfway through. It was mellow...a lot of chiming. It's more bedtime music or easing-into-the-day music. It sounded like they knew what they were doing; it's just not something I'd want to hear a whole lot of unless I was falling to sleep. I can totally see a lot of people enjoying it, it's just too mellow and too the same [for me].

Artist: Pinback

Song: "How We Breathe" (from the CD Autumn of the Seraphs)

Heard By: Marissa McArthur, La Mesa

I liked it. It was mellow, but it kind of kept your interest. I would compare them to the Postal Service. I would call it "alternative" of some sort. The lyrics had something to do with [being] underwater, and I liked it because I like the water. I liked the bridge of the song; they were singing different things at the same time. I think it was complex, but, just the way it was presented, it didn't make you feel like you were overwhelmed. It has a catchy sound and lyrics. It was a good driving-home-late-at-night song because it wasn't "in your face," but it wasn't so mellow that it would put you to sleep.