The guys in Amen describe their sound as "the musical equivalent of an open, raw, bleeding wound." Yummy. This vitriolic quartet is fronted by human amphetamine Casey Chaos. (I'm told his given name is Casey Go-to-hell-humankind-I-loathe-you, but it didn't fit on the business cards.) They've got everything you've been looking for in a hardcore band. Outrage at the shallow American way of life? Check. Cover art depicting children with mutilated faces? Yup. Two bassists, one of them named Tumor? You bet. To paraphrase their own words, Amen is just the ulcerous musical scab you've dreamed of all your life. Run, don't walk, to www.roadrunnerrecords.com.

The songs are wholly interchangeable, the drummer only knows one fill, and the guitarist has a pick slide for every occasion. These might all be valid criticisms if Bombshell Rocks weren't a punk band. For a group that calls itself streetpunk, this Swedish quintet employs surprisingly polished production on Street Art Gallery, going so far as to feature keyboards on several tunes, and the lyrics are fairly blunt-edged when it comes to political invective or social satire. The result is a collection of highly listenable, if a bit generic, pop-punk anthems.

Desvio is a Manhattan-based punk/metal quartet in pursuit of the American dream: "To rule the world and to be bigger than Kiss." While those are pretty lofty ambitions – Didn't Napoleon once say something along similar lines? – they've got a lot of energy, and they've been playing around the city on a pretty regular basis. "Alice" is an allegorical retelling of Alice in Wonderland in the tradition of "White Rabbit," although with a decidedly different sound. You can listen to some MP3s on their website at www.desvio.com.

"Roots rock" is a term that's evocative despite having no solid meaning. It calls to mind bands from the urban south made up of guys who work cruddy day jobs and play bars in college towns by night. Whatever roots rock may actually be, it's a good bet Barry Kingston and the Screaming Souls are it. They're pretty good at all the stuff they try, be it acoustic balladry ("Purple Sky"), funk-rock ("Shakin' From the Trees") or Jamaican-style rapping ("I Can't Do It Alone"). Their lyrics are sometimes cliched, but only because real people are sometimes cliched, and one only needs look at the cover of their album to see that these are real people. Real people with a real website: http://barrykingston.com.

Whatever else you might say about Luciar, she's not afraid to take chances. Her demo consists of just two songs. The first, "So Peaceful," has all the elements of totally generic girl pop: a pretty, forgettable voice, an upbeat groove, a hooky chorus – it's a solid-enough song that with plenty of airplay it could be a hit. The second track, however, is as unapologetically uncommercial as the first is mass-marketable. With its bizarre, circus-rock intro and rapid-fire stylistic reversals, "Amuse Me" sounds like a Queen B-side, or a snippet from "Jesus Christ Superstar." Curious about the rest of Luciar's oeuvre? Check out www.luciar.com.

Let me guess: You like ska all right, but you love evil too, and you're looking for some way to combine your interests. Mister, you're in luck! Mephiskapheles take what you love of ska – the off-beat accent, the big horn section, the band name containing a hilarious pun – and combine it with the sounds of deathmetal and hardcore. Add a healthy dose of Satan worship, and you've got... well, something. Mephiskapheles' sound is pretty much exactly what you'd expect from such an unlikely hybrid, and their liner art is sure to offend even easygoing Christians. So enjoy! But beware: If ska and Satan rock are allowed to join forces, what next? Symphonic punk? New Age gangsta rap? We'll just have to wait and see.

Cathode Bob's Justin Mikulka is at it again, rolling out another angsty solo acoustic set. The follow up to Consumer, though still guitar-centric, is a little more experimental, offering numerous tripped-out Roger Waters-style samples. Mikulka switches between two distinct personae: a brooding Neil Young/Kurt Cobain impression, and a folksy storytelling voice with shades of early Bruce Springsteen and simulated country twang. For more info on Mikulka and Cathode Bob, see their website.

Cons of listening to Celtic music: Someone might mistake you for a socially maladjusted, Renaissance Faire-frequenting D&D player, or even an aromatherapist. Pros: Traditional Irish music is simple and beautiful, and it provides the foundation for a lot of American folk – and even rock – music. Case in point: The Ploughman's Lunch. These sons of Erin, comprising singer-guitarist Karl Mullen and friends, promise a pleasurable listen for any fans of acoustic music, not just hardened Jethro Tull-following, Ned Devine-watching, Gaelic-speaking leprechauns. The straightforward Celtic stuff is good, and more rewarding still are the more derivative numbers, such as the folksy "Acetate of Antoin Artaud" and the jazzy "Irish Blues and Greens." For more on the Ploughman's Lunch, follow the rainbow to www.j-birdrecords.com.

Fellow ex-Stray Cat Brian Setzer may be raking in the royalties from the Gap commercials, but it's Lee Rocker who deserves the real props. Lee Rocker Live is a uniquely American tour de force, a set of electric blues, bluegrass, and rockabilly tunes by the masters of those genres: Bill Monroe, Hank Williams, Carl Perkins, Arthur Crudup, and, of course, Lee Rocker. Rocker and company highstep in high style through these ten tracks, with Rocker and second guitarist Brophy Dale trading solos that would put most heavy metal axmen to shame. It's good to know that there's someone still playing this old stuff, and better still that he's doing such a damn fine job of it. (www.jbirdrecords.com)

Pop New Parade in your CD player and you'll think you died and went to the '80s. The Sheila Divine craft exquisitely put-together college pop-rock of a type that is by and large absent from today's music scene, offering frequent tips of the hat to The Smiths and Elvis Costello. (All three band members knock off the latter's nerd-chic look, down to the moussed coif and plastic-framed Buddy Holly spectacles.) "Hum," a rant against manufactured radio hits, is an especially fine song, showcasing singer Aaron Perrino's outstanding range, both vocal and emotional. More on the Sheila Divine at www.roadrunnerrecords.com.

Queens-based SOS has charted a course smack in the middle of the heavy mainstream. Their sound is a virtual grab bag, referencing every major band you can think of in the grunge-metal continuum: Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Stone Temple Pilots, you name it. If the competent musicianship fails to overwhelm, it's because of the restraint employed in mixing this album – uncharacteristic for a hard rock band. Apparently, the guys in SOS actually want you to hear what singer Adam Mastrosimone is saying; accordingly his Scott Stapp-inspired vocals are given equal prominence to that of the instrumentals. This willingness to sacrifice sheer sonic impact for lyrical emphasis helps SOS to stand out from the pack. Their website is www.sosnyc.com.

Zucchero is an Italian superstar, an internationally acclaimed multiplatinum artist beloved by millions. That said, if you were looking to buy Overdose d'Amore, Zucchero's recent album dedicated to reproducing "the hazy euphoria [of] love," where would you look? Given the omnipresent backing choir and inchoate sense of spirituality, you might want to look in the New Age section of your local record store. Or even Easy Listening – chances are you wouldn't bat an eye to hear Zucchero wafting out of your dentist's waiting room speakers. But a righteous employee of Tower or HMV would stock Overdose in World Beat, acknowledging the way it fuses elements of flamenco, blues, and middle eastern sounds (and in the process working in guest shots by Zucchero pals Sting, Sheryl Crow, and Luciano Pavorotti). www.ark21.com

Algerian Rai sensation Cheb Mami is no stranger to Sting duets or stylistic fusion. Rai is an Algerian counterculture music style which synthesizes modern Western sounds with traditional North African rhythms and melodies, a style which yields such unlikely but fruitful pairings as the rhythmic collaboration between derbouka and drum machine on the title cut of Meli Meli, Mami's fourth album. As a protest music, Rai bears kinship to American hip-hop, and so it is fitting that Mami invites Algerian rappers Imhotep, K-Mel, and K-Rhyme Le Roi to add some lyrical mayhem to several tracks. Imhotep's Timbaland-style fills in French provide a particularly surreal complement to Mami's unique style. www.ark21.com