With an angelic look somewhere between a young Julie Andrews and Reba McEntire, Leslie Clemmons offers her first disc for your consumption. Looks can be deceiving, and the first track certainly proves that axiom. While I expected yet another bland, white-bread effort from an unknown, "Duplicity" lands firmly in the land of hip hop, with Clemmons' voice snaking about, sexy and sultry, and I'm reminded again, listen, and don't look. On the softer side of rock, but certainly more varied and edgy than, say, Norah Jones, Clemmons' biggest asset is her voice and what she can do with it. At one point, she may be singing like a siren, only to suddenly twist and fall away into a gravelly tone, shifting the air in her throat and lungs, using the mouth and nose to transform the notes. An enticing performance results. Repeated listening only enforces the beauty of her voice. Production is squeaky clean, and I wouldn't mind hearing her get a little dirty, like perhaps a Janice Joplin ditty (she does a fine cover of Carole King's "So Far Away"), but for a first effort, she can hold her head high and be proud. www.leslieclemmonsmusic.com

It took just a few songs for me to give the thumbs up to these guys. Moody and melodic, with a certain reckless air about them, they may crash their way into your hearts too. The second track, "Sussex," for example, reminds me of both the Clash and the Jam, on their slower numbers. Starting with a ringing guitar riff, the vocals come in, sparsely at first, and then bam, the whole band kicks in heavily before settling down a bit. Singer/guitarist Will Tidey, who hails from across the pond, has that slightly accented strain of angst in his vocals, and when the band sings backup on the chorus, man, it's a great sound. "What Jonny Wants" is another song that may invoke a certain nostalgia for the late seventies punk scene, as the guitar riffs over the chord changes. Sounding a shade like the Replacements, the number holds back from breaking loose. While not punk in the sense that the word is tossed around today, Lower Lot rocks with the sense of punk gone by. Fans of the Clash, the Buzzcocks, even early U2, will undoubtedly be happy to add this disc to their collection, rejoicing in the fact that someone got it right. www.lowerlot.com

Quality seems to be on the upswing this month. Case in point, this disc from the NYC-based quartet. A few seconds into the first track, the thought that immediately popped into my head was "imagine if the Black Crowes drank Mountain Dew instead of smoking pot." There is a bluesy underbelly to the band, often found in the vocal phrasing of Darren Buck, but the backing band is pumped like Arnold on a California beach. It is heavy rocking, yet not noisy. The guitar work is powerful and melodic, the bass and drums kick like a government mule, but you're never threatened or intimidated, as you might be with, say, a hardcore band. Songs are also hook-infested, the kind of stuff that hangs in your head while you're out wandering aimlessly, and that's a good thing. Also making an appearance on the disc is Matchbox Twenty keyboardist Ben Stivers, and his work manages to beef up the already full sound. "Queen of the Rodeo" gets my pick as the most fun song to listen to (their press is pushing a few songs for singles, but any song on the disc would make for great airplay). I'd suggest you get this disc and pick your own favorite. These boys should go big sometime soon. www.seismiconline.com