Fiffin Market, Nathan James, XIV

Artist: Fiffin Market

Song: “The Wild Rover” (from the CD Lost at Sea)

Heard By: Chase Edwards, North Park

I liked it. It made me want to drink beer. It reminds me of the Dropkick Murphys. It was kind of oi/punk rock. It was a total bar song. That’s just the image I get in my head — a bunch of people singing that song and drinking at a little pub in Ireland. It sounds like it could be music from Ireland. He kept saying, “No, nay, never, no more.” He was talking about drinking at a house of ale. They could commercialize that song, you know what I mean? Some type of beer commercial. I thought it was cool that the vocals were a male-and-female duet. I would give it a seven out of ten.

Artist: Nathan James

Song: “2,000 Miles” (from the CD The Bear)

Heard By: Kate, City Heights

It’s not my style. It’s nothing I would listen to, and if it was something I would listen to, it would be something I would listen to in the closet and not tell anyone. I would call it “alternative.” It sounds like the Goo Goo Dolls and Clay Aiken. The lyrics were about something really sad — I’m assuming [about] a girl moving 2000 miles away from him. He was really heartbroken…it’s kind of “emo.” He had a pretty decent voice. It sounds like it’s been done before; it didn’t stand out. That would be a good song for driving down a dirt road after you’ve broken up with the love of your life. It was really depressing.

Artist: XIV

Song: “Return to the Classics” (from the CD ETA)

Heard By: Connie Armijo, San Diego

I thought it was very constant and continuous. It was very different. When I first started listening to it, it kind of sounded like something that I would hear at a club in TJ; and then it kind of changed and became more “alternative.” The first artist that popped into my head was Mr. Bungle, but without lyrics. It was all instrumental except that it had a repeated thing that said “return to the classics.” It broke out into a jazz theme, which I thought was cool, but it was a little too repetitive. It doesn’t really sound like a band; it sounds like it was put together on a computer. I would give it a six or seven out of ten.