By now it’s official … school is underway; we’re halfway through first week and thanks to week zero, you managed to have one session of every class. There is nothing you can do about it but dig in your heels and try not to think about how far away you are from a break.

At least there is an upside; the fantabulous student government that you all know and love — and never make fun of — has gotten something to look forward to: a quarterly music event. Let’s see, this is fall quarter, so then, FallFest? Exactly.

After some coy and ultra-subtle hints by the covert P.R. team in Assciated Students (thanks Gabe), our fact-finding team at hiatus was able to confirm that the lineup this year will be Blackalicious, Jurassic 5 and MxPx.

While the former two groups seem like the most congruous of the three performers, there is nonetheless an over-arching positive vibe toward all the bands. Both J5 and Blackalicious are known for their alternative sonic approach to hip-hop, along with breaking with the West Coast/””Gangsta”” rap tradition. They have chosen to move away from lyrics about gritty urban realism and the accompanying violence and misogyny that this marketable formula entails. Rather, both of these California groups have found solace not in huge financial success, but rather in making music that is critically acclaimed for composition and intelligent word play.

Making a different sort of impression altogether is MxPx, whose name was originally Magnified Plaid (apparently it got changed because of a demo mishap — don’t ask), playing Christian Punk of all things. Despite being relatively successful in the pop scene, where being too much of anything, even religious, can spell certain doom, MxPx have managed to exist counter to groups like Blink-182; not swearing at the audience, and not even asking girls to remove clothing. The self-proclaimed “”good guys”” mixed DIY ethics for years — well … at least the high school years — before slowly breaking their way into the scene.

So what do we, the random and sometimes drunken UCSD students, have in store? Good times, come FallFest.