The New Rock

THRASHCORE
What It Sounds Like: A metal offshoot that fuses the thudding power of Zeppelinish metal, the velocity of speed and thrash (Metallica, Slayer), and the vein-popping rage of hard-core punk (like Black Flag, which begat singer- alternative god Henry Rollins). In other words, music to cause cardiac arrest in the members of Poison. Seattle has staked a claim for these bands—monolithic, melodramatic noisemongers like Soundgarden—but New York isn't far behind, thanks to Helmet's blazing Meantime album.
Patron Saints: Led Zeppelin and other '70s metal gods, plus classic punkers like Black Flag, the Sex Pistols, and the Ramones. Where to Start: The Rollins Band, The End of Silence; Helmet, Meantime; Prong, Force Fed; Soundgarden, Ultramega OK. Sample Lyrics: "I am the man from a human choke hold...Now I watch myself explode/My body is scarred by age/Now you get to taste my rage" (Rollins Band, "Just Like You").

FUNK AND ROLL What It Sounds Like: Only in the moshed-up world of alternative rock could this glop exist: bass and drum parts that pledge allegiance to funk, vocals that encompass both rock and rap, guitars with roots in hard rock. More than any other style, punk-funk is the next logical step for rock in the '90s. Often heavy-handed and too party-hearty for its own good, funk & roll is nonetheless barrier-shattering. Its mix of black and white music played by both black (Fishbone, Living Colour) and white (Red Hot Chili Peppers, Faith No More) musicians proves alternative rock needn't be as lily-white as its image.
Patron Saints: George Clinton, James Brown, and Sly and the Family Stone to FM radio gods like Led Zeppelin and Rush.
Where to Start: Red Hot Chili Peppers, Blood Sugar Sex Magik; Jane's Addiction, Nothing's Shocking; Living Colour,Vivid; Primus, Frizzle Fry; Royal Crescent Mob, Spin the World; Fishbone, In Your Face. Sample Lyrics: "I'm a lowbrow but I rock a little know how/No time for the piggies or the hoosegow/Get smart, get down with the pow-wow/Never been a better time than right now" (Red Hot Chili Peppers, "Give It Away").

U.K. DANCE POP What It Sounds Like: Pop with a postmodern twist. Britain now seems filled with bands like EMF, Primal Scream, Jesus Jones, and the Soup Dragons, who fuse hooky, unabashedly danceable tunes with the occasional bit of discordant sample or noise-guitar. (EMF's 1991 hit, "Unbelievable," should tip you off.) In the best tradition of mid-'60s British Invasion bands, much of it is upbeat, heady, and proudly disposable. Warning to veteran pop fans who feel prematurely old: Most of the bands look really young.
Patron Saints: A little bit of everything: '70s disco acts, '80s techno-pop pioneers like Depeche Mode, and U2.
Where to Start: EMF, Schubert Dip; Soup Dragons, Lovegod; Jesus Jones, Doubt; Ned's Atomic Dustbin, God Fodder.
Sample Lyrics: "This could be so everlasting/ This could be like nothing else/And this could stay in seventh heaven/ And this will always be forever now" (The Soup Dragons, "Everlasting").