Lights On -- Listen Up!

We're constantly getting turned on to new music here at Spinner HQ. Between our Free MP3 of the Day and weekly Free CD Listening Party, we hope you are too. To help further the cause, we're gonna bring you our personal must-hear music picks with Listen Up! -- Spinner's weekly spotlight on staff-approved artists who rock our world.

Who: Lights On
Hail From: San Diego, Calif.
Why We Love Them: These Southern Calif. rockers demonstrate what sunshine can do to your psyche and sound. Bouncy riffs adorn playful synths, ready for your next road trip sing-a-long or backyard barbecue.
Essential Listening: 'Twisting and Turning' (MP3 Download)
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Exclusive Q&A With Singer/Guitarist Timothy Hines and Bassist Robert Netcoh:

What's your favorite album right now?
Timothy Hines: The Lines' 'Memory Span'
Robert Netcoh: Ariel Pink's 'Haunted Graffiti.'

Tell us about the first concert you saw.
TH: Sonic Youth and the Descendants at the Wabash Hall in San Diego. People I knew at the time were into s----y music, so I was by myself at the ripe age of 13. My first official "stage dive" into a cold, hard concrete floor and the ceiling was about 6'5" tall. It was ridiculously hot in there. Anything before that was irrelevant so I'll discard those.
RN: Kiss in 1988 -- Springfield, Mass. I was with my older sister and her friend Karrie. Gene Simmons shot a giant Gumby out of the rafters with a rocket out of his bass.

What's your biggest vice?
TH: Red Wine and girls with a vacant stare.
RN: [I plead] the 5th.

What's the story behind your band name?
TH: My ex never liked it with the lights on.
RN: Tim's ex helped turn the lights on.

What's one thing you'd like people to remember about your band after you're gone?
TH: That we saved the "whirled" one chord after another.
RN: A fun live show and recordings that make you feel something.