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Juliette & the Licks, "Four on the Floor" (Militia Group)

That this L.A. five-piece is fronted by Juliette Lewis, another movie starlet with rock star ambitions, only ups the curiosity factor. The band plays bloozy, rootsy music with a '70s-'80s hard rock feel. Lewis has a thin, reedy speaking voice, but she acquits herself quite nicely when she sings.

The band brought in a heavy-hitter, literally, for its sophomore full-length when the original drummer quit the group; Foo Fighters frontman and former Nirvana basher Dave Grohl helped demo the new tunes and stuck around for the real deal.

After forming an (unfavorable) opinion about Lewis and her group after their 2004 Van's Warped Tour performance in Las Cruces, I found the disc surprisingly good. First single "Hot Kiss" is a swaggering slice of pop-rock candy, and "Sticky Honey" sounds like Courtney Love going New Wave. "Get Up" is a Stonesy blues progression, while a couple of songs show off a punk rock side: the speedy "Killer" and the poppy "Purgatory Blues."

The highlight is "Death of a Whore," a harrowing tale that sounds like a confessional. The spoken-word verses give way to a chorus dripping with ironic happiness.

Juliette & the Licks headline an all-ages show Sunday at the Launchpad, 618 Central Ave. S.W. Scissors for Lefty and Suffrajett open at 7 p.m. $15 at the door or at Launchpad, 764-8887.

The Secret Handshake, "One Full Year" (Triple Crown Records/East West/Doll House Recordings)

Luis Dubuc is the one-man band known as the Secret Handshake. He is a laptop musician - the disc was written on an Apple iBook in his mom's Dallas apartment - who is into drum machines, electro and processed vocals.

His sound leans toward emo-tronica - think an electro Death Cab for Cutie and their ilk with an R&B and/or hip-hop beat - and the themes deal with the usual angst, ennui and love aka heartbreak.

Opener "Too Young" is lush, pretty and orchestral yet poppy. The glitchy "Summer of '98" follows, then comes "Coastal Cities," which sounds like a funky Coldplay only whinier. The disc slows and drones from the middle toward the end - "Denton, TX" a New Wave Romantic tune; the melancholy lament "Pictures."

And some of these songs are just begging for a remix: "Lately" has a catchy dance beat but could really become a dance floor thumper.

The Secret Handshake opens an all-ages show at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Launchpad. Family Force 5 and Jonzetta headline. $10 at the door or at Launchpad, 764-8887.

Jesse Sykes & the Sweet Hereafter, "Like, Love, Lust & the Open Halls of the Soul" (Barsuk Records)

There's a tangible vulnerability on this Seattle chanteuse's third full-length release. Maybe it's because of themes of depression, illusion, permutations of love and the foibles of human experience ("Eisenhower Moon" with its hushed harmonica refrain).

Maybe it's her voice - husky, smoky and lived-in with a Marianne Faithfull quality about it - or the haunting Neko Case vibe, or the way the soft, delicate and ethereal give way to Crazy Horse-like workouts, courtesy of ex-Whiskeytown guitarist Phil Wandscher, as on "How Will We Know?" where serene vocals surrender to a building guitar jam.

The poppy, upbeat music of "You Might Walk Away" belies a longing sorrow in the lyrics.

But the killer tune is "LLL" where Sykes considers the possibilities of love - "Like, Love, Lust/Sometimes you have to kill/the one you trust/But we could only try/Those were happy times/Oh, so happy" - while Wandscher's strangled electric guitar bides its time until it's time to solo, then watch out!

Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter have two all-ages shows in New Mexico.

Saturday at 8 p.m. with David Smith at the Santa Fe Brewing Co., 27 Fire Place Road, Santa Fe. $12. Lensic Box Office (505) 988-1234; TicketsSantaFe.org.

Monday at 7 p.m. with Rocky Votolato and Slender Means at the Launchpad. $10 at the door or at Launchpad, 764-8887.