Record label giant Clive Davis wins more than he loses when it comes to choosing bands, and you know what? He chose Soil for his new J Records, the first heavy metal band for that label. The good news is Davis still has that Midas touch. Name aside, Soil kick ass like a B-52 over Afghanistan. And that metaphor is relevant, since the release date for this disc was, you guessed it, 9/11. No worries about timing though, since the 13 cuts here rock with a fury, minus the anger of the aggro crowd. Just good ol' heavy metal, dagnabbit! Singer Ryan McCombs' voice sounds like a cross between Rob Zombie and an angry Eddie Vedder, and his bandmates provide a wicked good backdrop. www.soilmusic.com

There are various forms of pop music – from the simple two-guitars, bass-and-drums combination to the big-sounding synthetic symphonic variety. The release from Tommy Walter's Abandoned Pools falls toward the latter end of that spectrum. There are guitar-riff heavy songs to be had, as in "Mercy Kiss," a song which owes much to the Smashing Pumpkins in both form and content. Yet Walter switches gears, or more appropriately, vehicles often enough to make the disc varied yet consistent. Walter, who was formerly in the Eels (and heck, if you go way back, the marching band at USC), packs each of the 12 tunes with programming and production. And though the songs are busy, they're never muddy. Walter's got a knack for hooks and big swoopy numbers, and that makes the album easy on the ears. www.abandonedpools.com

316 Productions is back at it again, this time with 19 cuts from mostly NYC area bands. Volume 5... can you believe it? Seems like just yesterday Volume 1 blew through here. Anyway, the disc opens with Stations, a band from Virginia, taking you back to the punk movements of the late '70s, and the disc ends with New Jersey's Seeing Red, doing a heavy metal number that varies in styles and influences. Between all that, you get 17 other tunes that range from punk to metal, with varied production values throughout. And though you may not find "the next big thing" here, it's always interesting to take a survey of stuff you may not usually get a chance to listen to. And in that respect, rock on 316, and bring on Volume 6 when you can. www.316productions.com (Reviews of Volume 1 and Volume 2)

Here's a home recording that sounds as if it were done in a top-notch studio – not a bad freshman effort from Connell, who wrote the words, music, plays all the instruments and sings the whole thing as well. Though a live show might potentially overtax the girl, the disc plays fine. There's a slight influence of show tunes, hard to explain, but some cuts sound like they belong in a production like "Rent." Her multi-layered vocals also give the disc a kind of Queen sound (well, if the members of that band were all female). "Alligator's Dream" is a pretty interesting cut the way everything fits together, kind of Beatle-esque. And so what if the disc is a bit quirky, it's fun nonetheless, though if sadness is a luxury, I'm glad I'm poor. www.frigidisk.com

Nothing like some good old-fashioned honky-tonk twanging to cleanse the palate. From the opener "Milk Train" to the end with "Too Much Angst," you'll get your fill of Fender guitars, tremolo, and the feeling that you're in some sweaty cowboy bar with a big Stetson glued to your head. And sure, the production is a bit uneven, but that could be due to the way the CD was burned (a note in the liner says "this hand-burned CD was made just for you"). Sonic imperfections aside, the boys provide a frolicking fun time as they barrel through the tunes, though a cut like "Suitcase" seems more Who-like than country-fried fun. Eh, even cowboys have to deal with stray cattle now and then. www.ramalama.com

Gary Lightbody of Scotland's Snow Patrol was out drinking with various members of Scottish indie bands, and proposed they all get together and do a disc. Just the liquor talking thought most, but Lightbody wrote all the tunes the next day, and then took just ten days to haul everyone together, get studio time, and record everything on tape. The result is a laid-back, swoopy, acoustic-flavored rock disc, and you can just about smell the peat burning off the moors. The tunes seep in slowly (like a good scotch, one might say), and have a lilting, Cowboy Junkies "Sweet Jane" feel to them. I'd mention the different bands, but you probably wouldn't recognize them. If you're looking for something that sounds like Scotland, or at least a Scottish hangover, 'ere ye go. www.reindeersection.com

If there's a word that springs to mind while listening to Rock NYC, it's "direction." As in guidance, as in these guys need some. Though a song like "Bottle of Beer" has a nice, bluesy Black Crowes/Allman Brothers whang to it, another, like "From Maggie," has an early '80s new wave sound to it, reminiscent of Patty Smyth and Scandal. Yeouch! So the talent is there, it just needs to be focused (Black Crowes or Scandal – you make the call). The clash is readily apparent since this is only a five-song disc, and I think these guys could make it (though I'm betting on the Black Crowes direction). Ah well, it's out of my hands. We'll see what the sophomore effort has to offer. www.thisrockband.com

Take Rockapella, Bobby McFerrin, and Dr. Demento, toss it all in a blender, and you get Geremy Dingle. I'm not sure if this is a comedy record or a resume but, in any case, it's interesting, since Dingle provides all the sounds himself, well, except for an electric razor, wind chimes, bass, and guitars on one cut. The latter comes in "Chicken Blues," where Dingle sounds like a trumpet and then Louis Armstrong in addition to clucking. At its weirdest, it verges on Firesign Theater (there's a dated reference for you), as on "Gizelda the Ape," clocking in at 7:30, and described by Dingle as "Sean Connery reads an erotic poem on a Scottish fiord." Get the picture? www.geocities.com/misterdingle

From Mineola, NY, comes a powerful quartet that sounds like an American version of Bush. Brash guitars, the hint of electronica at work (though not confirmed), vocals going from a whisper to a snarl. Successful? Sure, but hopefully they'll do better than Bush (who never seem to get the airplay they deserve). Lyrics to some tunes may be whacked, as "Miss Velocity" begins "So this is how it feels to be a flea on the ass of the world, could it be is it up to me a passenger in this whirl." Oh those artistes. Anyhoo, there's some smoking guitar work, the songs are hooky enough that they should attract attention (like "Miss Velocity" for example, despite the lyrical nuttiness). Neat CD package too, if that counts for anything. www.anotherengine.com

This is Derry's follow up to House of Fiction, where he was known as just "Dick." Really. And though Derry's voice lies somewhere between Bob Weir and that guy from Squeeze (Rob Dilford? I can't remember), his songwriting is more along the lines of the Lennon/Beatle stuff, Squeeze, with just a hint of America. And though his voice may sound timid at times, overshadowed by the instruments, the songs have enough interest to allow you to overlook the occasional vocal shortcoming. Even when Derry gets heavy, as on "Inside Out," it's not too threatening. And that's the drawback for me, in that it makes the disc almost too nice, "G" rated as it were. Don't get me wrong, the songs are good, just a bit too sweet for my taste. www.dickderry.com

California punk just won't die, and that's evident in the latest from F-Minus. Songs are more chaotic than melodic, and if you hear any sort of harmony, chances are you got the TV, a radio, or a blender on somewhere nearby. Unlike the speed-pop label so many bands call punk nowadays, F-Minus deliver on the appellation. You can almost smell the beer in the vocals as they blare out, feel the heat from the lights as the guitars blaze, and calculate how much they've saved by not taking lessons as the songs fire away. It's even fun to try to tap your foot as the drums blister in the 200-240 beats per minute range. Take that, Backstreet! Oh those crazy kids. What will they do next? www.hell-cat.com

Though I can't validate the title as of yet (the missus did just deliver a baby, thank you very much), she sure did give me a sexy wink while we were listening to this (and I think I can get her... I'm gonna score!). Was she just jesting, or is it a hormonal imbalance at work? I'll let you know in a few weeks. The 16 numbers here are a collection of laid-back, trip-hoppy, string-laden tunes, courtesy of Dan the Automator. You may know him from his work with Gorillaz, Handsome Boy Modeling School, Deltron 3030, or a slew of other projects. And if you like that wicked cool groove of, say, the Gorillaz's "Clint Eastwood," you'll slip into these numbers as easily as you'd slip into a heart-shaped tub in the Poconos. So toss on the CD, dim the lights, and get to work. www.75ark.com

Chris Vrenna, former NIN drummer/programmer has undertaken a conceptual album based on a painting he came across in a gallery one day. The Chris Sorren artwork – titled "Elliot's Attraction to All Things Uncertain," spot the connection to the disc title? – graces the cover, and shows a big-headed nerdy guy with glasses over a typewriter and a cup of coffee. Vrenna includes a few guest vocalists, like David Sylvain, Craig Wedren, and Will Oldham. As for the music, it's industrial techno-influenced rock, similar to NIN but without the rage (remember, it's about a nerdy looking guy), though there is hot and heavy guitar work as on "Swamp." On first listen I was digging it all, the second was more like "eh," so maybe one's mood matters when giving the disc a spin. Fans of NIN and the like will be at home, that's for sure. www.sixdegreesrecords.com