12 Area Standouts to Watch for in ’92

T he top 1991 freshmen of Southern California come from all over the musical map--from rap to country to Beatle-pop to grunge-rock. Here’s a look at the 12 new area acts who’ve made the biggest splash this year.

Carnival Art: The quartet offers some new twists to the L.A. alternative-rock traditions--a bit of punk-derived grunge-metal and just enough in-your-face attitude, but delivered with a smiling sense of surrealism. A solid debut album on Beggar’s Banquet, “Thrumdrone,” has failed to catch fire here, though it’s earned accolades from the British rock press.

Cypress Hill (above): Rudimentary beats and samples power unapologetic paeans to the pursuit of pleasure on the debut album “Cypress Hill.” Like DJ Quik, this L.A. gangsta-rap trio glorifies its loose life in the ‘hood with only a little of the docu-dramatic outrages of N.W.A or social thrust of Ice Cube.