This NYC outfit has an East Coast grunge sound to their music, which is heavy, dark, and peppered with minor chords, yet still clear, and not muddied by too much distortion. The vocals are way out front, and guitarist/vocalist Phil Gadges has a voice that's neither heavy metal (screaming) or grungy (mumbling and introspective). On tunes like "Sunday Morning," a weepy acoustic number, he proves he can tell a story and draw you into the music. My guess is that you should see these guys live, since the heavy-handed restraint they use gives me the feeling that they just want to break loose and wail. Then again, the acoustic guitar numbers are the better cuts here, including the heavier "Living in a Satellite" and "Beautiful Day." Maybe I'm not the only one here that's a bit confused about direction. www.alienlife.net

Their press kit describes the music as "alternative pop/rock with Celtic color," and after a few songs that label seems fitting. But before you start thinking Cranberries, think again. Sara Wendt's voice is at once waif-like and bold. It's a heck of a lot of fun to hear her work her way through a song. Listening to the opening lines of "Another Time," for example, can reduce you to tears as her breathy voice pines away. Behind her, the sound is big, at times like an army of guitars, at other times a new age string section. And though the production has a few bugs (like that buzz from the stomp box on "Stay, Winter"), overall the disc is a hit, from the smart arrangements, solid musicianship, to that beautiful voice of hers. www.wentsongs.com

Listening to the second cut on the disc, "Won't Let You Go," reminded me of Bon Jovi, big keyboards, roving lead guitar, and a kind of heavy metal pop sound throughout. And there's a sense that a lot of time was spent in the studio polishing up the tune, well, all the tunes, since there's that feeling of precision from beginning to end. Unfortunately, that attention to detail does away with spontaneity, and the result is that this is a studio album in every sense of the word. For example, "Drivin" has a Styx/Kansas taint to it, with the harmonized vocals and big guitar solo, while the other tunes on the disc similarly fall somewhere between the Bon Jovi and Styx type. It's a credible effort from George Rochler and Steve Loria, who are the band, and if big-hair rock is your thing, here you go. www.glasshawk.com

With a pop sensibility along the lines of, say, Squeeze meets the Smithereens with a healthy nod to Elvis Costello, the Wes Hollywood Show provides a quick way to brighten up a cloudy day. Maybe it's the hook-driven tunes; maybe it's the driving-across-America bass lines of Patrick Thornbury, the snappy drumming of Jason Styx, or the clash of Mark Talent's Brit-influenced guitar work against the chording of Hollywood's. Take your pick, make your argument, you'll still end up with 13 solid pop tunes with an early '80s bent. Songs like "Miss Modern," a slow, driving ballad show Costello's influence on Hollywood (and that's not a bad thing at all), while poppier numbers like "Weston-Super-Mare" or "Little Miracle" just leave you smiling they're so much fun. A nice breath of fresh air from Chicago. www.solidaction.com

The nine songs on this debut disc have that rootsy, Americana feel to them, no bells or whistles, no unnecessary effects or studio tricks, no nonsense, just straightforward rock. The songs are well written, with rock-solid hooks, generating a familiarity that allows you to sing along by the end of the first chorus. Singer/guitarist Jeff Epstein, guitarist Chris Flynn, bassist Sean Seymour, and drummer Alan Katz neither under or overplay their instruments, letting just the right amount of sound ooze out of the speakers. Guests include keyboardist Kenny Margolis of Cracker, and the Asbury Jukes horn section, with beautiful production by former dB Gene Holder. This is the kind of CD you might want to buy two copies of, since you'll be playing it over and over and over and over and over. www.cropduster.com

Score another hit for the folks at Cropduster – Amanda Thorpe has a voice that is strong and sultry, and on the 11 tunes presented here, she puts it through its paces. Doubtless she began writing these tunes with just herself and her trusty guitar (ain't it always that way?), but the arrangements here expand the music from coffeehouse staples to something larger indeed. "Toy Guitar" is a beautiful, slower number, sounding like country before country sold out to pop and mass marketing. Other songs, like "Always" or "By You," have a trippy sound working in the background, as Thorpe's velvety voice weaves about. And just when you think it all might be getting too New Agey, as on "By You," the music and Thorpe break out. Be sure to check out "Them There Eyes," a swampy, alligator hunting number with some wicked slide guitar work. Cool stuff indeed.

You wouldn't think a conceptual album chronicling a bout with Hodgkin's disease would be something you'd want to slap in the CD player to liven things up, but if you didn't give a listen to I.V.Catatonia you be missing out on the strange and lovely music found there. Done on a 4-track, the 22 cuts range from a looped sample of his mother telling him to "take his vitamins," to lush, theatrical numbers that build up and up ("Always So Far Away"). Using conventional instruments, and whatever else he could get his hands on that made noise, Alexandrakis has assembled an aural landscape that is as haunting and deranged as it is uplifting. If this sounds a bit strange, imagine the emotional rollercoaster of finding out you have cancer, undergoing treatment, and then putting it all to music. Alexandrakis has done just that, and quite well too. www.ericalexandrakis.com

Singer/guitarist Jennifer Zablocki looks kind of short in the press pictures, but her voice booms like a folk-rock goddess from start to finish on the band's first disc. She can also pen songs, and with gassed-up arrangements from Pier Giacalone, they positively lurch out at you. Zablocki's voice is strong and pure; there's no rasp like Melissa Etheridge, and the songs, pick any of 'em, have more guts and depth than similar groups like, say, 10,000 Maniacs or the Indigo Girls. Yet there's a nice balance between the folkiness and the rock edge, and part of that is probably due to Giacalone, who picked up his engineering skills at SUNY Purchase, and who can play a variety of styles on a variety of guitars. The closing tune on the disc, "Shadow Dancer," is a slow ballad-like tune that builds, and just won't leave my head. www.kittyhawknyc.com

There's something different about a band that's toured the country in a bus that converts to a stage in just minutes, complete with sound system and video screens, and something a bit out of whack about band members who list the golf clubs they use in the liner notes. But a little wackiness is a good thing in this case, as the New Hampshire trio pumps out a heavy yet clean form of rock and roll. The fourth CD by the band finds it as tight as ever, with songs ranging from political funk ("B.S."), to bar pickup stories ("Is Anybody Out There"), to tales of breakup ("Never"). There's a good mix of funk, rock, and acoustic folk injections that keeps everything balanced. And for a trio, there's a pretty hefty sonic output. www.sonicjoyride.com

His voice is kind of raspy, like Springsteen, and it's a nice complement to the clean sound behind him. Lee, a drummer since the tender age of 12, switched to guitar whilst at college in Memphis, and took to songwriting. It was a good move, as the disc proves, with eight tunes that have an '80s pop feel to them, with Tom Clark's lead guitar just slightly dirty, giving a nice little bite on the lead breaks. Clark also produced the disc, along with Lee Overtoom (Ben Folds Five), and the clean minimalist sound has a refreshing twang about it. "Rescue Me" is an uptempo number that has "hit" written all over it, but any of the other seven songs could well do the same, given the strength of the hooks and the capriciousness of radio. www.seanlee.net

Pronounced "zoo" (if you're keeping score), this lad who honed his keyboard skills at Berklee, has unleashed a big, lush, pop disc, a mix of glam-influenced rock and pop that explodes out of the speakers like, well, big, orchestrated pop. You'll hear shades of Elton John, Squeeze, the Who, and others, but his style is his own. On the uptempo numbers, songs drive from start to finish, going full throttle all the way. On a slower tune like "Face of Despair," a lot of reverb keeps that big sound alive and kicking. There are some cameos as well, like Mike Rivard (Club d'elf), Dave Hull (Joe Perry Project), and the Addison Groove Horns, that are just icing on the cake for Zoux and his bandmates. In the end, you have a shimmering display of well-crafted pop tunes, energetic, and full of life. www.zoux.com

By the time you've come to the last song on the second disc, "There Will Come a Day," a Dylanesque rambler, you've been through quite a musical journey. The songwriting from the former Dream Syndicate member lays out like post graduate work compared to the junior-high level of the most popular music out there today (take that, Britney). And when crime writer George Pelecanos penned the press release, calling the two-disc set "Wynn's 'Exile on Main Street,' his 'Zen Arcade,' and, yeah, his 'Physical Graffiti,'" I thought, ah, great, an inflated PR missive. But after several listens, I'll gladly hop on that bandwagon, since Here Come the Miracles is that good. The maturity and complexity of the songwriting and the arrangements show Wynn as a rare performer who has aged like a fine wine. The short space here can't really give it the credit it's due, but if you buy just one CD this year, for God's sake, make it this one. www.stevewynn.net

Nothing like good funk from the capital of funk, namely British Columbia. Huh? Well, it may not be the capital of funk (I was teasing), but the disc at least makes a funk statement. And though not on par with Parliament/Funkadelic (who is?), given the relative absence of funk from the musical horizon, People vs. Funk is a nice shot in the arm. The disc is the brainchild of guitarist/singer James Hill (who also attached his resume in the press kit, but maybe that's a Canadian thing). Along with bassist Russell Bonaguro, keyboardist Chris Simmons, and drummer Dan Sia, the group pounds out 11 tunes that'll have you, at the least, tapping your foot. What keeps the music from really screaming is the absence of a horn section (no horns!? Relax, take a breath, yes, no horns), but that's a minor quibble. After all, funk with no horns is better than no funk at all. www.thepeoplevsfunk.com

This lo-fi rap disc from a suburb of Rochester, NY verges between plain awful and inspired genius. Given some of what's out there today (check out BS2000's childlike offering, for example), Whitee could well slip into the mainstream and ride the tumultuous wave of stardom. Or he could flip burgers for a living. In any event, keep the young 'uns away from the speakers, as Whitee seems to have a preference for profanity. Check the lyrics to "Suck Off the Pope": "Jesus is deaf, God is dope, I'm such a good Catholic, I'd suck off the Pope." It's not Hemmingway, though it does get its point across plain and simple. There's something hilarious about Whitee, with just his voice and drum machine pounding out tunes like "Big Bush Barbie" and "Chuck Nesbitt's a Dick." Gotta love that first amendment. www.whitee.com

The melding of rap and heavy metal was inevitable. It spawned myriad groups that now rule the airwaves, such as Limp Bizkit, Korn, etc. Now, from Canada, Thousand Foot Krutch ups the ante, by drawing the trump card, Christianity. The first thing that caught my eye was the liner notes. The first line thanks everyone including "Jesus Christ," even the executive producer gives his props to the Lord. I mention this because of the clash with the music, which is heavily rapped, and spoken in slang, as in "Unbelievable": "Just to give you the run down, Krutch will be droppin' it ... we be rockin' the territory in this rap game, 'n' Christ blessed us with the octane, the same name, who created the world in seven days ..." and so on. It just seems so far out of place, assuming the gang lifestyle and all. Religion aside, the boys lay down some heavy grooves with some nasty guitar work, production is spot on, so maybe I'm just getting too old for this game. Peace out. www.thousandfootkrutch.com