DISC DRIVE - ROCK

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds: "The Boatman's Song" Mute CD, Stumm 142 (52 mins) Dial-a-track code: 1201

After the frenzied bloodbath of Murder Ballads, Nick Cave has settled down into something altogether gentler and more compassionate. He has put away the knife, the gun, and the Kylie-crushing lump of rock, and is clutching a bunch of roses instead. However, blood is still drawn by such thorny tunes as People Ain't No Good and Where Do We Go Now But Nowhere? and sometimes it's hard to tell whether Cave is offering up his bouquet to a cold-hearted young lady, or to the spine-chilling figure of the Grim Reaper. This is Cave's own lovelorn collection, where passion smoulders under the dead ashes, and all affairs end in tragic farewell. There's a religious, reverent tone in songs like Brompton Oratory and There Is A Kingdom, while Into My Arms willingly sells its soul to the greater god of love. The Bad Seeds remain a low-key presence throughout the record, leaving space for Cave's lyrics to conjure up some evocative landscapes and tableaux. Nobody gets knifed in the gut this time, but Cave's latest masterpiece definitely cuts deep into the soul.

Republica: "Republica" BMG, 74321 410522 (48 mins) Dial-a-track code: 1311

Alarm bells always sound whenever a British act makes it big in America while still remaining relatively anonymous back in Blighty. Cries of "Bush! Bush! Run away!" resound all over the media, and everyone turns up their noses and thinks, if the Yanks liked it first, then it must be naff. Republica have already scored two hit singles in the US, Ready To Go and Drop Dead Gorgeous, but it looks like this New Wave techno combo might get a warm welcome back on their home turf. Fronted by Saffron, a sassy, streetwise indie-chick who sings as though she's about to kick you in the groin, and backed by keyboardist Tim Dorney, engineer/remixer Andy Todd, guitarist Johnny Male and drummer Dave Barbarossa, Republica are a tough, sexy amalgam of Elastica, The Prodigy and The Slits, although shades of EMF and Jesus Jones also manage to sneak in and nearly spoil the party. The record crackles with electronic energy, especially tunes like Bloke, Bitch and Picture Me, but songs like Out Of The Darkness and Wrapp are little more than brightly-packaged Eurobeats.

Mansun: "Attack Of The Grey Lantern" Parlophone, 7243 8 55791 2 7 (62 mins)

Dial-a-track code: 1421

This sneaky four-piece from Chester has crept into our consciousness via four brilliant hit singles, and now their debut album has been tipped as a worthy successor to Radiohead's The Bends and The Manics' Everything Must Go. The album has already assaulted the UK charts, going straight in at Number One, so it looks like everything is go for this symphonic guitar group. Mansun don't make small-screen fodder for indie-heads, preferring to go for the full panavision pop canvas, and the opening "theme", The Chad Who Loved Me, aims straight for the cinematic and the dramatic. In Tax Loss, Mansun unashamedly plunder The Beatles' Revolver to create a retro epic, then have the audacity to open the tune with the line, "I'll be your tax loss lover from Liverpool". Evil genius. The best stuff on the album, however, is the string of surreptitious hits, Wide Open Space, Stripper Vicar, Egg-Shaped Fred, and the most recent smash, She Makes My Nose Bleed.

Ocean Colour Scene: "B-Sides, Seasides and Freerides" MCA MCD 60034 (52 mins) Dial-a-track code: 1531

Or Dadrock Holiday. OCS opponents will scoff at this seemingly self-indulgent collection of B-sides, extra tracks and previously unreleased recordings, and the album is indeed a Traffic-jam of acoustic guitar widdling, organ noodling and lyrical nostalgia. Call me an old Noelrocker, but there's something charming about tunes like Huckleberry Grove and Chelsea Walk, and songs like I Wanna Stay Alive With You and Robin Hood are quite pleasant little pieces of Weller-pop. This is a strictly limited-edition collection, so if you're a secret OCS-head, better come out of the closet quickly before this goes out of stock.