***
Georgia-born writer Flannery O'Connor had an unparalleled talent for constructing religious narratives without diminishing them to overt evangelism. In a similar vein, Detroit-born, Brooklyn-residing songwriter Sufjan Stevens has crafted in Seven Swans a record of revelatory subject matter that seeks to open the listener up to religious discourse rather than conversion. His banjo-plucked melodies and lo-fi approach evoke a stark emotional landscape marked by intense spiritual unrest. Stevens evens nods his head to O'Connor's classic short "A Good Man Is Hard to Find," retelling the story from her antagonist's point of view. Played in succession with his regional salute Greetings from Michigan: The Great Lake State, the songs are coarse, less fluid, and of a rustic nature. His voice, however, still carries the same Nick Drake emotional attachment that made Michigan so powerful, and the chorus singing of Megan and Elin Smith is damn near angelic. Overall, we should not fear Seven Swans' religious themes. For this collection seems to be more an attempt to sort out the confusion left over by a Christian raising, rather than a preaching to the masses. BRIAN J. BARR

AMBULANCE LTD

LP

(TVT)

****
If you want romantic sweet nothings whispered into your ear, but don't want (or are unable to understand) the actual romance that usually accompanies them, just pop in Ambulance LTD's LP (or 2003's EP, as was my case last year), slide on some headphones, and listen to "Stay Where You Are." Dreamily-voiced singer Marcus Congleton knows he's paranoid and lacking something others have, but still, he wouldn't mind looking out for someone sometime: "I may not be the one that's true/But I'm trying, don't you know?" The song fades out with variations of the lines "Don't aim high/Don't aim low/Don't hang on/Don't let go." That's a love song, friends--honest and pure. The rest of the full-length is equally roaring with guitar-jangle-driven Brit pop, Brooklyn-style and joyful. The somewhat shoegazing songs are trilling with piano sounds and sloping with melodic, sometimes staggering, instrumental tumbles. KATHLEEN WILSON

EAGLES OF DEATH METAL

Peace Love Death Metal

(Ant Acid Audio/Rekords Rekords)

***
The sideburned, pickup-truck-driving, bong-clutching, tweaked-out, beanbag lifestyle of the '70s seems to have made a big impression on Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age, and while that vibe has made its way onto every recording of Homme's various projects (QOTSA, Kyuss, Desert Sessions), it dominates his latest, Eagles of Death Metal. A collaboration with his childhood pal, Jesse "The Devil" Hughes (AKA Holmes), along with a bunch of other stoners who contribute guitar, piano, and devil horns, the Eagles play kitschy, AC/DC-inspired anthems about lust, rock 'n' roll, nasty ladies, and burning hearts of fire. Hughes is the Eagles' composer, singer, and guitarist and he's dreamed up an ass-kicking flashback to more carefree times when sex and drugs were cheaper and less risky. Smokin' tunes like "Kiss the Devil" and "I Only Want You" will surely appeal to dirty-haired heathens and their smelly girlfriends, as well as to anyone who digs their rock solid and grimy. ADAM BREGMAN

VARIOUS ARTISTS

Modern Wild Dub: Dread Meets Disco Punkrocker Downtown

(Select Cuts/Echo Beach)

***1/2
Seizing the early-'80s underground zeitgeist by the 'nads, Modern Wild Dub is a nifty intro course to today's top interpreters of Thatcher-era postmodern dub. The 13 dread-unlocking tracks here document what the subtitle implies. Dub-curious indie rockers should warm to Out Hud's "Hominid Hump," which revolves around a beautiful, cyclical guitar riff, and Mark Stewart/Adrian Sherwood's panicky revamping of Radio 4's "Struggle." !!!'s "Me & Giuliani Down by the School Yard," the cowbell-happy Arthur Russell meets Pigbag track that got many rockers shaking azzes, appears, but LCD Soundsystem (DFA producer James Murphy) steals the show with "Beat Connection (Extended Disco Dub)," a sublimely loose-limbed funk jam that could solidify Liquid Liquid. While it's not as blueprint-shredding as the two Macro Dub Infection comps, Modern Wild Dub features enough DNA-tampering dub to assure the genre's ongoing health. DAVE SEGAL