Hillstreet Stranglers, Ryan Hiller, Josh Damigo

Artist: Hillstreet Stranglers
Song: “Madame Methlab” (from the Imaginary Baggage EP)
Heard by: Andrew Smith, North Park
They’re pretty good. I like that type of music — punk rock. I go to a lot of the local punk shows, and they’d probably fit in there. I’d compare them to the Dead Kennedys a little bit. I’m not sure what the song was about, but the music was all right. I think they could probably get on the radio. I’d describe the mood of the song as hyper. That would be a good song to go along with a sport; something fast-paced. I’d give that song an 8 or a 9 [out of 10].

Artist: Ryan Hiller
Song: “Follow the Leader” (from the CD The P.u.r.e. Project)
Heard by: Frankie Mercado, Normal Heights
They’re pretty good musicians, but their funk/gospel sound kind of reminds me of a lot of stuff from the ’90s. When he’s showing off his vocal skills and the entire band is doing it with him, it sounds like something you would hear at a church. He had good lyrics — it wasn’t like he was preaching gospel. It just had that Christian-rock sound. They have a really excellent bass player. I don’t really see them making it far past the local level. I could see them being a house band for a bar or something. I could see that song playing in the background at a dark, dank coffee shop. Based on the quality and the work they put into [the song], I’d give it a 7 out of 10.

Artist: Josh Damigo
Song: “She’s So Bad for Me” (from the CD Raw)
Heard by: Ken Burt, Old Town
It was okay, it was catchy. I think it would be better if they brought out the guitars more and if it was faster, more like a punk song. I would compare them to Jack Johnson. It was all acoustic. There would be an audience for that at a coffee shop. Their lyrics were mostly about “Why are you doing this to me?” and stuff like that. I could definitely hear that in the indie scene. I listen to more underground stuff like Suicide Commando, Psyclon Nine, and Wumpscut. I could hear that song being played on 94.9.