If you're somewhat disillusioned by the state of rock today, awash in prescription pop or bands that aren't sure if they want to rap, rock or scream, and end up doing all at once (poorly), here's your cure. Pick up the CD from the Hangmen, throw it on, crank it up, and sit back. Soon you'll be covered by guitar-driven rock so pure you'll just close your eyes and smile. Recorded with a raw sound, with Country and Western overtones in all the right places, there's a simplicity at work here that must be heard to be understood. And once you get it, you'll listen repeatedly, and revel in the fact that there are still bands out there that care, and make the music the way it was intended to be made. Rock on Hangmen, rock on. www.acetate.com/thehangmen.html

When you think of studio musicians getting together to form a band, a few things spring to mind, like Steely Dan (yeouch – but that's just me), or an esoteric project that's more like a résumé builder than a listenable disc. Well, here comes Vibrolush cracking the preconceptions. The CD is filled with glistening pop tunes, a groovy layout and liner, and production layered like an Eskimo on a seal hunt. Pick a song such as "Just Like Heaven," a big ballad tune that sounds like an American Radiohead, or the title cut, with its open, airy sound. Hell, pick any of the 12 tunes here and relax. Sooner or later the songs will latch on to you like a leech. Steely who? www.vibrolush.com

All right, calm down, "CD-R" is not the title. This band is from Sweden, and it's a four-track recording of a live performance. Sweden, you say? Rock, you ask? Well, sure, why not. At the least, you now know if you ever go to Sweden, there's a rock band there that sounds a lot like late Deep Purple. And though it may be hard to tell from this recording, which clips more than a marine barber, the boys (heck, it could be girls – no liner notes, no press kit, nothing) do an admirable job. Of sounding like Deep Purple. "Love in Vain" features some nice slide work. Is the world ready for a Swedish Deep Purple? Stay tuned. www.sliceoflemon.net

Jeff Martin and Dan Seta are the band here, and the music is low key, almost trance-like at times, like stumbling through the day on a valium-induced high. Martin's vocals won't win him any awards, but after a bit, the breathy, wavering slacker quality establishes a presence, and fits in quite well with the tunes. "Happy Times" plods along like a hangover despite its title, sounding like a 45 played at 33 (the younger set out there may have to ask about that reference), but it builds, and the tension from wanting to hear it speed up is fun. "Astrida" has some string scraping that sounds like a whale bleating in the Pacific, which is way cool. The other nine tunes are similar, a kind of primer to avant-garde music. It might not be overtly accessible, but it's cool stuff nonetheless. www.idahomusic.com

Okay, so now I'm on the 4th cut, "Into the Woods," an acoustic number that fades in and out, with a sitar, and then a heavy electric lead. This is what's known as filler, which is strange, since there are only seven cuts here. The first, "Ruby Red," was a brief (1:27) acoustic dirge, like Led Zeppelin meets Pearl Jam, with sound effects throughout. Next, "One Handed in the Red Room" (not a Big Brother reference), is a hardcore tune, heavy guitars and raspy vocals. "Blown Wind" follows in a similar vein, with an acoustic refrain in the middle. What is the story here? Concept EP gone astray? Do I listen to the next three songs? The answer is yes, but I don't have an answer to Paw's identity crisis. Do you? http://seanm2.amhosting.com/index.html

Wow. What a blend of rockabilly, chaos, and surf guitar. Well, that's not right on the mark, but it's in the neighborhood. Think Duane Eddy meets the Fleshtones meets Television and you kind of get the picture. The energy on this disc is great. "Dangerous Top" has enough wild guitar and wild vocals packed into just over two minutes to make you smile for a week. This kind of sonic energy is the stuff people remember as what fueled the late '70s/early '80s, the kind of sound that you latch on to and stay loyal to the band that makes it for years. "Pocket Fulla Fish" is a hoot, and not only for the lyrics. If you've gotten tired of all that's stale out there, refresh yourself with this disc. www.speedballbaby.com

This heavy album has a grungy sound to it, with an overall dark tone. Melodic at all? Nah, not really. More of a throbbing, parallel-fifths, doubled-vocals ride. It features Justin Chancellor of Tool, although the notes provided don't really indicate how, so a quick check through the web says he's Tool's bass player, and that this is actually a re-release. This internet is something. Anyway, if you like dark, grungy, heavy rock, a kind of Alice in Chains-lite meets Pearl Jam, or you're a Tool fan, then giddy up and get the CD. "Signposts in the Sea" has a classic-rock, Spinal-Tap feel to it, where "Spasm" is a raunchy rocker, and something you might hear Tool doing live. http://www.beatville.com/vbr/vbr5005.htm

Heavy, heavy guitars that crunch. Drums that pop and are peppered with triplets. Vocals that screech. It pounds; it smacks; it shakes you like a California earthquake. But does it rock? Yes and no. Maybe I'm having a bad day today, maybe I'm just getting old and cranky, but this heavy stuff is starting to wear thin on my ears. So many of the songs sound similar – there's the death scream vocals in the low register, the sweepy, airy parts in some songs where it tones down a bit, and you're just waiting for the heaviness to come crashing in like hurricane surf. Maybe it'd be different in a club, where you can sweat the beer as fast as you drink it, and bounce around like everybody else. The band is tight and all, the production is real good, so maybe it is me. Give the disc a listen and let me know. www.factory81.com

Fitting that during this Olympic month there's a band from Sweden, and now Norway's entry, Bigbang. This 1999 release features former European skateboarding champ Oystein Greni on guitar and vocals, Karim Sayed on drums, and Nikolai Eilertsen on bass. The music is difficult to nail down style-wise. "Something Special," for example, shows the influence of late Beatles in the songwriting, but worms its way into a bluesy section at one point. "How Do You Do" has an early '70s feel to it, as if the song were written by Hendrix and Lynyrd Skynrd, and then performed by a Norwegian trio in 2000 using a Rickenbacker 12-string. The rest of the songs are equally idiosyncratic, off the wall, and refreshing in that it's a whole new take on music, and not a bad one at all. http://smallbang.cjb.net

Always nice to end with a good power pop/alternative band, and that's what you got here with Weston. Hailing from Pennsylvania, this quartet hammers out a dozen tunes from laid back to heavy. "Kiss Like an Angel" made me think of Frank Black (or the Pixies, take your pick), as the verses were whispered, with light guitars building, crashing into a big heavy chorus. "Radio" had me thinking of Paul Westerberg, another songwriting genius. And if these boys continue to churn out tunes like this, they'll garner a devoted following. Here's a factoid for you – the band was named after the guitarist's parents since they let them practice in the basement. Now I'm getting all misty eyed. http://vps.net/weston