Best Dorky But Cute Hip Hop Act

Lil' Pocketknife is one of the odder things to come out of the recent S.F. lo-fi screwball-rock revolution. The trio -- MC and namesake Kristy "LPK" Geschwandtner, "keytar" player George Patterson, and drummer Lynnae Burns -- makes a kind of party rap that's intentionally nerdy and goofball. LPK sticks to its undeniably white, suburban New Jersey roots, offering up songs about Dungeons & Dragons, astronomy, and disco dancing over music owing as much to prog-pop band the Alan Parsons Project as hip hop kingpins Run-D.M.C. Still, although most purists would be loath to admit it, LPK recalls the braggadocio of early rap MCs -- of course, Melle Mel never rapped about how he had "motherfucking ADD" and planned to "eat sugar, eat sugar, stay up all night/ Start this revolution bite by bite." And while the group's songs may be a tad precious on CD, LPK sets the house afire live, with the diminutive, adorably yelpy Geschwandtner bounding around like she's just downed a vat of cotton candy. This is one pocketknife that's neither dull nor cutting -- unless it's working on your funny bone.