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Deftones, "Saturday Night Wrist" (Maverick/Reprise Records)

These original nu-metal rockers experiment with dynamics and sound on their sixth full-length release. It's ironic that disparate elements are used to create a cohesive whole on an album that almost tore Chino Moreno and Co. apart.

On the opener and first single "Hole In The Earth," the Sacramento five-piece fuses psychedelia to its metal. "Beware" is a hard-rock drone warning about water unfit for any use; "Rats!Rats!Rats!" is speed metal with tempo shifts at the chorus; while "Cherry Waves" is a psychedelic-metal dream that contemplates death and suicide. The thundering "Rapture" will please old fans with its brutal drumming and screamed vocals.

Then things get weird. The spacey instrumental "u,u,d,d,l,r,l,r,a,b,select,start" prepares you (sort of) for the pulsing "Xerces," a trip to the farthest reaches of space (outer and/or inner). The guys even meld an electronica-tinged melody to minimalist industrial pop-metal ("Pink Cellphone").

This is a dramatically new and exceptionally exciting direction for Deftones.

Listen to "Hole in the Earth"

Deadsy, "Phantasmagore" (Elementree/Immortal Records)

Elijah Blue, son of Cher and Greg Allman, fronts this goth, New Wave, glam, hard-rock band, whose second album has music you can dance to. Fans and band members call it "undercore," an unholy matrimony of Õ80s New Wave and bubblegum death metal.

A techno hard-rock dance beat drives "Razor Love"; while synths propel the hard rocking "Babes In Abyss" (about groupies) and "Book Of Black Dreams." The title track is the group's epic glammed-out vision of what guitar rock should be. There is a definite Bauhaus influence.

The band displays other influences as on an eerie, horror-processed interpretation of the Stones' "Paint It Black," as well as on the original "Time," massive staccato riffage that incorporates the chanted chorus from Led Zep's "Immigrant Song."

It's "Family Values" tour redux when Deftones and Deadsy hit the Sunshine Theater, 120 Central Ave. S.W., on Tuesday for an all-ages show. $28 in advance/$32 at the door. Doors at 7 p.m. Advance tickets, plus service charges, at Ticketmaster outlets. Call 883-7800 or go to www.ticketmaster.com. Smoking and alcohol service in segregated areas only.

Listen to "Carrying Over"

The Places, "Songs for Creeps" (High Plains Sigh)

For all intents and purposes, Amy Annelle is the Places, as she plays most of the instruments, collects most of the sounds and performs the majority of the vocal parts. This is her sixth CD overall, fourth as the Places.

She creates sonic collages, incorporating field recordings, shortwave radio transmissions and found sounds with her (mostly acoustic) instrumentation. She makes a cacophony when she distorts the proceedings to suit her agenda, as on "Miners Lie!" post-apocalyptic folk music with a Middle Eastern bent.

Annelle has a haunting, otherworldly voice. She harmonizes with herself on the gospel "Blessed Speed." She can do a straight-up murder ballad ("My Weary Eye"), as well as an animalistic take on the same ("The Lion's Share"). On the kiss-off song "The Damn Insane Asylum," she sounds as if she's singing from inside a dream through the use of a telephone microphone as she seems to equate nostalgia with insanity; and on "Gold To Green," a lovely forlorn steel guitar frames her use of the changing fall colors as a metaphor for a love that's about to leave but she wishes would stay.

Amy Annelle brings the Places as a trio to the Atomic Cantina, 315 Gold Ave. S.W., at 9 p.m. Sunday. Lowlights opens the free show. 21 and over only. 242-2200.

Listen to "Miners Lie"

Irving, "Death in the Garden, Blood on the Flowers" (Eenie Meenie Records)

The five musicians in Irving are all songwriters, and their preferred outlet is the pop song. They deal in indie-guitar pop with atonal, detached vocals ("The Gentle Preservation Of Children's Minds" and "Lovely, Just Like Her," where girl-watching becomes a comparative, competitive sport). Most of the vocals are delivered with a British accent and sound like Morrissey or the guys from Interpol (the Smiths-like "Jen, Nothing Matters To Me").

The lyrics can be clever wordplay (the hypnotic and repetitive "She's Not Shy") or almost rap-like and rhyming (the country-pop title track). A thumping bass line makes "I'll Write The Song, You Sing For Me" catchy as hell, while three chords do the same for "I Want To Love You In My Room," a stuttering song about lust and sex. "Situation" is power pop with a psychedelic tinge.

This is a great party record that's stuck in the '60s.

Irving brings the blood and the flowers to the Launchpad, 618 Central Ave. S.W. at 9 p.m. Monday. With +/- and Approaching Andromeda. $7. 21 and over. Call 764-8887.

Listen to "Jen, Nothing Matters to Me"

Antlerand, "Branches" (Sound Family Records)

This Portland, Ore., trio, formerly known as Invisible, proves to be greater than the sum of its parts, creating a loud, raucous wall of sound that (usually) begins as a quiet interlude. These are chamber music soundscapes with pop/rock sensibilities and symphonic qualities. One of the musicians is a filmmaker/videographer who synchronizes his videos to accompany the group's live performance.

Though all members are male, the band utilizes female vocals whenever possible, as on "Now It's A Year," where Janet Weiss of Sleater-Kinney harmonizes and lends a percussive hand. Another female (the liner notes are rather skimpy and generic) gives an urgent, ethereal feel to "Maybe We're Still Running" and the minimalist "We Know Better."

A major portion of this disc has a mellow jazzy vibe, as on the spacey moody "Brighter Rays" and "Far Too Clean," a tempo-shifting workout where the song is more than half over before the vocals kick in.

Antlerand brings its music and its videos to Burt's Tiki Lounge, 313 Gold Ave. S.W., at 10 p.m. Monday. A Man About A Horse also plays the free show. 21 and over. Call 247-2878.

Listen to "Now It's a Year

Vains Of Jenna, "Lit Up/Let Down" (Filthy Note Records)

This quartet is the first signing to "Jackass" Bam Margera's vanity record label. And they are the Sons of Guns N' Roses via Sweden; heck, they even kind of look and dress like Axl and Co.

The guys formed the group last year after the rhythm section graduated from high school, and have been on the road ever since. The guitar playing is the best part of this band, thanks to Nicki Kin's tight riffage. However, Lizzy Devine's vocals tend to be a mite weak, especially for the effect they're trying to achieve.

They can deal in bombastic hard rock ("Don't Give A Damn") or the acoustic-intro power ballad (the title track). Things finally pick up on the speedy, thrashy "No One's Gonna Do It For You" and the ode to groupies everywhere "Set It Off," a slice of misogyny set to a catchy hard-rock beat. (The disc includes live acoustic versions of these two tunes, as well.) These Swedes are carrying on one of rock Õn' roll's fine traditions: being sleazy just for sleaze's sake.

Vains Of Jenna hit the Duke City on the last week of their first U.S. tour, 32 cities in six weeks. Fireball Ministry and Artimus Pyledriver headline with support from SuperGiant. 9 p.m. Tuesday at the Launchpad, 618 Central Ave. S.W. $7 advance/$8 at the door. 21 and over. Call 764-8887. www.virtuous.com.

Listen to "No One's Gonna Do It"

Easy Action, "Friends Of Rock and Roll" (Reptilian Records)

The members of this Detroit quartet are all veterans of the '80s and '90s punk-rock underground.

So you might expect straight-ahead hardcore punk (the speedy "I'm Waiting," "Honey Don't" and ". . . Out My Way"). However, these guys mix it up a bit, as on "Worse For You," a melodic garage rocker; the bluesy R&Bish "There Was A Time"; and the soulful organ-driven jam "What's Going Down."

What doesn't change throughout is the caustic, nicotine vocal howl courtesy of John Brannon, ex-Negative Approach and Laughing Hyenas. The tribal punk of "Kool Aide" becomes guttural; loud and fast rules "Get It"; while the title tune devolves into a shout-along.

Easy Action growls at Burt's Tiki Lounge, 313 Gold Ave. S.W., at 10 p.m. Tuesday. The free show features Go Betty Go, Hudson Falcons and Rumfits. 21 and over. Call 247-2878.