Sundance Kids/Cataldo

A young man named Shelby leads a rotating cast in the Sundance Kids. He has a strong and strident voice, one with a few vocal tics shy of Neutral Milk Hotel's Jeff Mangum, but distinctive enough to cut through a buzzy acoustic guitar or the shitty P.A. at a rock club. The MP3s on its MySpace page show traces of cardigan-rock, with loudly-strummed guitars and bell-like keyboards making a cozy musical bed for Shelby to lounge upon. Fellow Olympia, Washington, native Eric Anderson is the captain of Cataldo, a project that veers more toward straight-forward, radio-ready pop in the confessional, heart-on-sleeve tradition. Also appearing are two locals, the spectral dream-rock of Ghost in Light and the Ten Thousand, who are in the midst of finishing up recording an album with Chris Deckard.