Artist: The Frantic Romantic

Song: “Why Do We Punish the Ones We Love” (from the CD Say What You Wanted to Say)

Heard By: Harrod Suarez, North Park

I thought it was good. I thought that it was something that I would want in my “car rotation.” It had a good driving beat. It was sort of in and out of the beat; there would be these moments where it was just the guitar riff. I like the upbeat, pop quality to it. I can’t place [his] voice…it reminds me of someone else. It wasn’t particularly striking; it wasn’t what drew me to the song initially. It was more the sound of the music. It reminds me of a lot of alternative bands but sort of that newer sound — pop with a harder edge to it. I would imagine [hearing that song] in an Amanda Bynes movie — although, I haven’t seen any of those movies. I don’t know what goes on in them.

Artist: Steven Ybarra

Song: “The Beauty of Your Love” (from the CD Love Love Love)

Heard By: A.J. Pixler, Kearny Mesa

Strangely enough, I once saw a guy who played with a friend of mine. I think his name was Steven…local artist, too. He sounded just like this guy… [Laughs] That’s him! I actually saw him six months ago and got an EP from him. I really like his sound and his voice. I’m not really into the whole religious-music thing, but I do like Switchfoot. He’s definitely along those lines. The lyrics seemed like they were about him finding God and thanking him for being in his life and giving him the power to do things he might not be able to do normally. I would hope he could get big. I definitely see him doing shows that he could tour the nation on, playing in front of 1000 or 2000 people in a club.

Artist: Tribal Seeds

Song: “Rider” (from their self-titled CD)

Heard by: Shintaro Yasui, Sapporo, Japan

I don’t know why, but I was reminded of Japanese pop. I didn’t understand the lyrics because I don’t have the [language] skill of listening, so I was focused only on the music. I feel like [in the song] someone was trying to go somewhere — to keep walking. I just imagined he had some problem that he was trying to overcome. The tempo was up. I liked it. The music was upbeat, and I feel like it would cheer me up. It’s not like Japanese reggae. I listen to Japanese reggae but also UB40 and Bob Marley. Popular music is very up-tempo, so it might [become] popular.