Saturday's Pizza Lucé Block Party offers an interesting threesome of side projects formed by musicians better known from other acts.

CHARLES

Who's in it? Sean Tillmann, better known as Har Mar Superstar, along with Melinda Parks and Jon Kelson, two of his mid-'90s high school classmates from Perpich Center for Arts Education. Kelson also played with Tillmann in the noise-punk band Calvin Krime. They started rehearsing with an actual Charles (Gehr, Pink Mink's drummer) just last week.

Why start a new band? "...," said Tillmann, who met up with Parks and Kelson over lakeside getaways in Salt Spring Island, B.C, and Clearbrook, Minn. Said Tillmann, "...."

What are they doing? The trio just issued its first song for free last week, a moody electronic rock dirge, "I Need a New Girl (To Do Drugs With)." Tillmann and Parks swap vocals like a trip-hop Kills. They have nine more to debut Saturday, with an album planned for early next year.

FAREWELL CONTINENTAL

Who's in it? Motion City Soundtrack frontman Justin Pierre, plus ex-Small Towns Burn a Little Slower members Thomas Rehbein and Josh McKay, bassist Jim Adolphson and singer Kari Gray.

Why start a new band? "There are so many other forms of music I am a fan of that [don't] exactly fit into the Motion City Soundtrack world," said Pierre, who "shared an affinity for feedback and noise" with Rehbein. The duo crafted four songs way back in 2007 and finally got their act together (literally) last year in time to head into the studio with producer Ed Ackerson.

Margaret Andrews
Spyder Baybie Raw Dawg & 2% Muck

What are they doing? The band's full-length debut, "Hey Hey Pioneers," came out in May on Paper + Plastick Records. There's indeed a lot of feedback and noise on the album, of the My Bloody Valentine shoegazer variety, enough pop hooks here and there that MCS fans will still recognize the singer.

SPYDER BAYBIE RAW DOG & 2% MUCK

Who's in it? Jeremy Nutzman of the cheeky electro-hip-hop duo Bight Club, winners of last year's Are You Local? contest in Vita.mn. He formed this other cheeky electro hip-hop duo with producer/beatmaker pal Eric Muchow.

Why start a new band? "I was homeless, moved into Eric's place, and we naturally started working together," Nutzman said. When it came to creating a new MC name, he literally saw the writing on the wall: "Spyder Baybie Raw Dog" was scribbled there in a night of drunken rambling.

What are they doing? "Drunken rambling" also describes the often raunchy, riotous tracks on the debut album "Grimeworld," issued in April by local indie label Totally Gross National Product.