Da Bears, Modern Rifles, Hotel St. George

Artist: Da Bears
Song: “Regal Beagle” (from the CD Classics Never Die/Cowardly Cobra)
Heard By: Justine Marzoni, Imperial Beach

I really liked it. It reminds me of Of Montreal; it was dance-y and happy. I liked the horns. I don’t know what [genre] I would call it…I’m not good at categorizing things like that. It seemed like a lot of different things. I remember the lyrics said something about “having sex with people you don’t know.” I like the “da-da’s” and the repeated chorus. I’m not that musical, but it sounded well done. I think it’s something that I might hear on 94.9, but it’s not super commercial. It seems like something that if it got picked up on an iTunes commercial they could totally hit it big. They’d be a good band to see live, like at the Ché Café or something like that.

Artist: Modern Rifles
Song: “Terroplane” (from the CD I Was Young, It Was Dark)
Heard By: Holland Heinrich, Balboa Park

It’s almost there for me. The first thing I thought of was Bloc Party, with the catchy little guitar riff. It’s pretty straightforward rock. The vocals had some good points, but they were kind of weak; they kind of fell off at the end when [the vocalist] tried to go over the top. It’s a little too pop-rock toward the end. I think I’d be interested in listening to the rest of the album. I’d give it a chance, for sure. They kind of had their own thing going on. I could hear that on the radio…like, 91X. I definitely see that song in a skate video. I’d probably give it a four or five out of ten. It’s pretty average.

Artist: Hotel St. George
Song: “I Was Only Sleeping” (from the CD Hundreds & Thousands)
Heard By: Linda Mata, South Bay

I actually liked it. I don’t really like alternative rock, but I liked the beat. It made you feel like going fast through the desert — driving in a car 80 miles an hour, looking for something. It kind of reminded me at first of the Beatles. I didn’t really pay attention to the lyrics. I just remember [lyrics about] being lost about something or someone. I could see that song on the radio. It’s pretty upbeat. You can put that song into any category. It’s not really stuck into any certain music type — it’s not soul or rock. I’d probably give it a seven and a half or eight out of ten.