Sarah Petite, Canobliss, the Shake-Ups

Artist: The Shake-Ups
Song: “Sex Exchange Operation” (from the CD Breathing the Flood)
Heard By: Adam Goodson, La Mesa

I didn’t like the xylophone thing, but I think it was all right. I could kind of hear a lot of elements they used from other genres. In the guy’s vocals — and he doesn’t really overdramatize it — but there was a little Joey Ramone in there. I was kind of digging it, but it didn’t have the energy that I like to hear. Throwing in the xylophone kind of brought the energy down. I think the lyrics were about how there’s certain things in life you can’t change once you grow up. I kind of lost the meaning of the song because I was paying more attention to the xylophone. It left me with a bunch of question marks.

Artist: Sara Petite
Song: “Lead the Parade” (from the CD Lead the Parade)
Heard By: Kevin Hill, Mission Hills

It was pretty neat. Before I found out she was local, I thought it was Emmylou Harris or June Carter Cash. It sounded like country-western. I heard guitar, drums — maybe some tambourine or something like that. She was singing about how she was going to be “leading the parade” one day. I understood that very well. I believe she could be successful with her music. It’s good music for everything, like in a work environment or for traveling. It’s good music to sit back and relax a little bit. Ten being the best, I would give her a nine out of ten.

Artist: Canobliss
Song: “Convicted Again” (from the CD Psychothermia)
Heard By: Ed MacKeil, La Jolla

Right off the bat, the music and the rhythm reminded me of some old Corrosion of Conformity. Once the lyrics started, I kind of got the feeling that it was complain-y, typical “victim” music that’s so common today. Overall, it didn’t really have an original feel. The quality was good — technically, it was mixed very well. The sound was good. I think it would be the perfect thing to listen to if you’re on your way out to East County to Gordon’s Well to do some dirt-bike riding or four-wheeling. I don’t know, man, metal’s not what it used to be.