End Fest Will Be Preview Of Rock's Future

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End Fest with Bush, Everclear, Gin Blossoms, Catherine Wheel, Throwing Muses, Better Than Ezra, face to face, Supersuckers, The Presidents of the United States of America, Korn, Hagfish and Dambuilders, noon Saturday, Kitsap County Fairgrounds; sold out, 628-0888; End Fest Hotline: 421-KNDD. -----------------------------------------------------------------

The End has done it again.

Modern rock station KNDD (107.7 FM) has put together another End Fest that betters Lollapalooza in presenting cutting-edge, promising bands - the future of rock 'n' roll. It's an amazingly up-to-date bill of young bands of the moment, groups with songs on the current playlists of every modern-rock station in the country.

It's hard to pick who's hottest among the sizzling lineup, but here's our Top Ten list of End Fest attractions:

1. Bush - The British band with the Seattle sound, epitomized by the blistering "Everything Zen," a distortion-laden den of angst brightened by flashes of positive insight such as "there's no sex in your violence" and "I don't believe that Elvis is dead."

2. Everclear - A Portland band seething with anger and pent-up energy, but whose songs somehow manage to have a positive spin. Its strongest track by far is the supercharged "Heroin Girl," a cautionary tale about an overdose death that's as grabby as it is scary.

3. Better Than Ezra - Perhaps the most mainstream, commercial band on the bill, but with a strong sense of how to craft a hook-laden, irresistible rock song, such as its breakthrough hit, "Good." Lead singer-guitarist Kevin Griffin could be rock's next big sex symbol.

4. Throwing Muses - Kristen Hersh, who fronts this trio, is bonkers, but that makes for fascinatingly weird, paranoid, multi-layered lyrics, buoyed by surprisingly danceable rhythms.

5. The Presidents of the United States of America - The buzz is on about this funtime Seattle band, soon to be heard on a major label. Will its wild, beer-soaked club energy fade in the afternoon sun? Nah!

6. Catherine Wheel - For its third album, "Happy Days," this British band has fine-tooled its sound to a kind of scorching purity, as displayed on the new single, "Waydown."

7. Gin Blossoms - The longest-established band on the bill, known for the catchy hits "Found Out About You" and "Hey Jealousy," it has another appealing ballad with the love song "Til I Hear It From You," from an upcoming film called "Empire Records."

8. Supersuckers - A Seattle band by way of Tucson with high-octane punk energy and a variety of clever, often funny songs. Recorded a cover of "Bloody Mary Morning" with Willie Nelson. What could be cooler?

9. Korn - A hardcore California group with snarly, gut-wrenching songs but lots of innovative touches, like twin-guitar leads and bagpipes!

10. The Dambuilders - Just back from appearing on Lollapalooza's second stage on the East Coast, where it got some highly positive reviews, this largely unknown Boston band may be End Fest's sleeper.