Byline: Bill Ellis The Commercial Appeal

After the blazing mind-drain of last year's "A Bridge Too . . . Far," '68 Comeback and its auteur leader Monsieur Jeffrey Evans decide to give it up for that four-letter word L-O-V-E. Yet "Love Always Wins" (Sympathy for the Record Industry, Four stars) is actually about the five-ton crush Evans and his band have for greasy blues and rockabilly. They cover (and at key moments suffocate with a plastic bag) Little Milton's Chess hit Grits Ain't Groceries, Jimmy Reed's Big Boss Man and the Charlie Feathers classic Tongue-Tied Jill. The band's originals nicely mirror their models: the Ray Charles standard What'd I Say takes on a whole new, apocalyptic meaning following '68 Comeback's Dark Cloud; and the title track has the urgent brashness of a Delta-reared Stooges. Maybe because it's so tossed-off and casual that "Love Always Wins" feels like Evans's best work since his 1993 Gibson Brothers landmark, "Memphis Sol Today!" This '99 comeback is one of the year's foremost records.

On the Kudzu Kings' latest, "Y2Kow" (no label, Three 1/2 stars), Lloyd the Mechanical Kow graces the CD cover while on the back, the Oxford, Miss., country-rock band is dressed like tin foil-covered invaders from the planet Psychobilly. The disc's musical contents do not disappoint. The Kings run through the originals Hangover Heart and Mellie as if they're the offspring of the Pleasant Valley Boys, the crazed bluegrass band in the Herschell Gordon Lewis gore film classic 2000 Maniacs. When in the mood, the Kings are also capable of beautiful Southern rock balladry - Fortunate Blues - and suggest nothing less than the Band sharing rootsy licks with the Grateful Dead on Jaco's Lament. Looking for authentic No Depression alt-country? Put down your Son Volt records and give this weedy wonder a try.

Melodic punkers Pezz get a sonic lift from alt-rock recording guru Steve Albini (Nirvana) on "Warmth and Sincerity" (BYO Records, Three 1/2 stars), the band's best effort thus far. This Memphis foursome isn't soft in the middle like Green Day (even though there's a bit of Billie Joe in their vocals) nor are they Minor Threat hardcore. Rather, Pezz writes tight punk tunes with a kick, hook and message - emo-punk done better than Bad Religion if the truth be told. False Prophets is the record's centerpiece and its call to arms: "Let's get our hands dirty before we're thirty" reads one great line, and you have to believe that Pezz will at...