Top 10 summer jams

Girls' Life, June-July, 2004 by Kelly White

1. INOUK Search for the Bees

This is your shot at moving to different musical corners of your mind. Time to go from the comfortable to the complex, and Inouk provides a moody, offbeat flashback to the style of the '60s and '70s. Heck, it takes you on so many trips you don't even care about hitting "stop" when the CD gets back to the first track.

2. PLAY Don't Stop the Music

For those who never got over the breakup of the Spice Girls, there's always Play. The all-girl group is, well, girly for sure, with song titles like "Ever-Girl" and "Girls Can Too." "Every Little Step" features poster pop star Aaron Carter. With the exception of the slow-paced "Hand in Hand," all the tunes have an undeniable dance beat.

3. MARIA MENA White Turns Blue Maria describes her music as "jazz, soul and R&B, but within pop." But we say this chica is a folk artist. She writes about insecurity, blame, sorrow, control. Heavy stuff: But she somehow makes it seem like it's all gonna be OK.

4. MICHAEL TOLCHER I Am

Michael's Southern roots are apparent. Still, his rock has an urban edge, like he's channeling Tupac (Michael is tight with the deceased rapper's dad). Listen to tunes like "The Sun Song" and "Miracle," and you can just envision Michael, his guitar slung over his shoulder, heading down a gravel road at dusk.

5. THE HONG KONG Rock the Faces

Lead singer Catherine Culpepper has Blondie ambitions. She sounds like Debbie Harry and has that same shade of bleached-out hair. The copy-cattiness of the band stops there, with unique music smacks of New Wave but veers in lots of different directions. "Galaxies," for example, has a surf sound to it, while "Birds" has an orchestral quality.

6. BLUE EPIC Local World News

Call them "atmospheric," "melodic," even "dreamy" (and they are). Just don't call them "emo." "I'm sick of that term," says singer Phillip Roberson. We'll back 'em--Blue Epic's style is not of the emo genre. But the music does stir up emotion, particularly their cover of "A Man Needs a Maid," which really ticks us off.

7. NAMI TAMAKI Greeting

Unless you speak Japanese, you won't understand a word the teen sings. Still, there's something quirky and contagious about this music known as Jpop. If you're into anime, you'll recognize Nami's vocals on "Believe" and "Realize," the themes to Mobilesuit Gundam Seed.

8. PIEBALD All Ears, All Eyes, All the Time

The Piebald dudes admit to a softer style as a by product of "maturity," but punk undertones are hard to ignore. "You still get sufficiently rocked," says singer Travis Shettel. We love its sense of humor on songs like "The Benefits of Ice Cream" and "Jealous Guy Blues."

9. JOJO JOJO

She grew up listening to a church-going, gospel-belting mama. Now 13, JoJo shows her mojo on songs she penned for her R&B debut--"Keep On Keepin' On," "Yes or No" and "Sunshine."

10. NUMBER ONE FAN Compromises

It's a happy day when a band on the indie rock scene gets noticed beyond its small, loyal following. This pop/rock group is stoked to perform fares "Can't Forget," "The Prettiest Sin" and "Sorry" at this summer's Vans Warped Tour. "Last year, we were buying tickets to Warped, and now we're going to actually play," says drummer Jonathan Fries.