Into Jack Johnson

Artist: Three Day Old Beaver

Song: “TMNT” (from myspace.com/threedayoldbeaver)

Heard By: Tad Wuertz, College Area

I thought the music was really good. The guy could play guitar and sing really well. I could imagine if he were to sing a “normal” song it would be great. The lyrics were fun, though; I think he was just singing the theme song for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon show. The music was totally different than what’s on the theme song. I’m really into acoustic music like Jack Johnson and John Mayer, but what it really reminded me of was open-mic night. I go to a lot of open-mic nights. It was an original sound. You have to acquire the taste for acoustic music. I can definitely see him coming up with original songs or even doing covers and becoming mainstream.

Artist: The Upstarts

Song: “Time’s Right” (from the CD The Know How)

Heard By: Rex Brookhart, Pacific Beach

I thought it was a perfect example of how the San Diego hip-hop scene is growing. Basically, we’ve been seeing refreshing new things off of the backstreets and it’s been pretty exciting, actually. You see bands like the Upstarts coming to form here and bringing some really good beats and rhymes — putting San Diego on the map. They have a little bit of a jazz thing going. It’s real smooth; maybe like a mixture between Crazy Town and Tha Alkaholiks. It seemed like the song was just about having a good time — going out, partying a little bit…kicking back and not letting things stress you out. These guys seem pretty down-to-earth.

Artist: Jason Mraz

Song: “Make it Mine” (from the CD We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things)

Heard By: Jennifer Mitchell, National City

He has a nice voice, but it sounds too [adult] contemporary to me. I like bands more like Nada Surf, Arcade Fire, and Wolf Parade. I can’t think of anybody to compare him to off the top of my head. It’s like something I would hear on a soft-rock radio station while I’m at the dentist. I didn’t really understand what he was singing about. I was listening more to the music in the background. There were a lot of horns — I think I heard a saxophone. If it’s played on MTV or the local radio stations a lot, maybe it would have a chance to [be popular]. It was kind of like a relaxed, happy song. I would give it a four or five out of ten.