The Pet Lions / Soft Right
Unsigned, 2009. petlions.com

Columbia connection: Singer/guitarist Karl Østby attends Columbia and plans to graduate in 2010 with a degree in Arts, Entertainment, and Media Management, with a concentration in Music Business and a subconcentration in Producing Recorded Music. “The longest degree/concentration title ever,” he says.
The sound: Pop rock
The word: Despite its relatively short existence (the band formed in October 2007), Pet Lions is a musically mature band based in Chicago. Soft Right, the band’s debut EP, is five songs of pure pop rock. The EP begins with a catchy ditty called “Roman History,” which sounds like a cross between the Beach Boys (with distorted guitars and a fast tempo) and 90 percent of the music you’d hear on a popular alternative rock radio station. Though this band is unsigned, it wouldn’t surprise me to channel surf popular FM a year from now and hear a Pet Lions song. Download Soft Right free at petlions.com.

—Brent White ('08)