MacRock #3 - We covet our neighbor's wife but quietly

Artists playing at MacRock in the "soft rock" venue

Zac Hryciak & the Jungle Beats - appealing youngster who has surely sniffed his gatefold Banhart and Jana LPs all too often. Derivative sure but also dulcet, sweet and harmless. Don't believe me then check out his "Up On The Mountain" cut on his cryspace page before dismissing him too quickly.

American Tourist - and continuing in the folk vein... more business, less hat than the previous guy which aint thought of neccesarily as a good thing Recent JMU grad so home court blahblah. His mountain song is "House Mountain" (there's more at his website) recalls Animal Collective's forays onto the porch.

Josh Small - Sloppy Fahey axe-oriented classish folk but w/enough raw talent to make ya kinda perk out an ear or three. Nothing I'd norm. seek out but the slight type of stuff that didn't make you 180 degree when you heard it in coffee shops (B.S.W. - as in Before the Starfuckstrification of the World). "Move Your Hips" (courtesy Suburban Home Records)

Pree - Tell the cops: Jana Hunter is locked in a closet somewhere in Arlington being fed cathair and Easy-bake oven cakes. Pree is May Tobol's project and no it's not slang for pre-ejaculate although that would be way cool if it was. It's an obscure reference to the title of a somewhat disturbing Jeff Mangum song. IT also rhymes with twee but that's gotta be a coincidence. Lotsa love already for this project on the hype so I ain't gonna add to it.

The Young Sinclairs - Kindercore's garage-psyche revivalists. What's lacking in gusto is traded in for authenticity. Roanoke calling to the far away towns, phoney flaming groovies has bitten the dust.

Accordian Death Squad - Be thankful you live in a era when people have the leisure time to form bands like this. Or be not thankful because it adds more evidence to the already so full its sinking feeling that nothing much really matters anymore and so people just do anything and seem to want a paycheck/bed&board/props for it. Not everybody is worthy of being Jack Rose.

Still. I am not mean.

It's quite fetching instrumental Balkan-punk fare suitable for your next chili-cookoff or indie film soundtrack. I wouldn''t kick them out of my backyard if I had one and I'd probably kick out Gogol Bordello. Whereas. If Hawk and a Handsaw showed up, I'd tell these guys to just shut the fuck up and sit down.

The Extraordinaries - Ah, a pop band?! I like their "The Chicken Or The Egg or The Song" - after this the Beatles swipes get a bit too obvious. I like Dr. Dog more but I wanna be present for their set if possible.

Des Ark - The place to be at 10:10 on Friday night. Everytime I see or hear this rage-folk/rock singer, I wanna buy her a sandwich and a beer or something. And everytime I see her she's gotten more awesome and grown like 50 feet taller. huge ketch, not at all "soft rock", an original coming up for air, touched by God, etc. etc. "Jesus Loves You"

Bowerbirds - I've already expressed what passes for fealty these days to the headliner & we could have done so much worse but perhaps better - they'll certainly fill up drab and empty spaces with their pretty "soft rock" ness... Never seen them live so I'd be happy to hear what they do with fare such as "In Our Talons"