Just out: N*E*R*D, Good Charlotte, Elvis Costello & more

N*E*R*D seeks revenge, Good Charlotte threatens a heart attack, a couple of Grateful Dead guys regroup, Elvis Costello goes country (again) and Neil Diamond shares classics in this week's new album assortment. We've also got care packages to deliver from a Mr. Lennon and a Mr. McCartney.

AN ALBUM ABOUT NOTHING: N*E*R*D frontman Pharrell Williams suggests the trio's fourth album of funked-up rock is called "Nothing" (Interscope, B) 'cause "it's like nothing you've ever heard."

Uh, maybe so, if you've never encountered the Cucamonga soul of Frank Zappa (evoked on "I've Seen the Light"/"Inside the Clouds") or encountered a Prince-like commingling of sex and spirituality ("Sacred Temple"), or danced to the music of the Spencer Davis Group's "I'm a Man," evoked in N*E*R*D's close approximation "I Wanna Jam."

But let's grant that their combo pack is rich in variety. And when the N*E*R*Ds aren't just celebrating good times and imperfectly perfect girls, they do have wisdom to impart, most telling on "Life as a Fish," which argues against landlubbers' worst instincts.

FEELING GOOD: If we could just harness the energy of musicians, maybe we wouldn't have such a dependence on foreign oil. On "Cardiology," (Capitol, B), good-time pop-rockers Good Charlotte turn the power up to 11. Check out "Let the Music Play," "Sex on the Radio" and the comically cast, oh-so-wasted "Last Night" (think "The Hangover - The Musical"). And don't miss their happy days-evoking "1979."

Piling on one guitar-scorched, sassy blues testimonial after another, Buddy Guy offers "Living Proof" (Silvertone/Jive, A-) that music keeps you alive and kicking. Yeah, he's drunk "wine with kings and the Rolling Stones," Guy growls in "74 Years Young," still likes cruising "On the Road" in his snakeskin-topped 'Benz and can vividly remember (on "Thank Me Someday") keeping the whole household up late with his guitar practicing. But not all's cock-struttin' antics. Guy slows to guest B.B. King's amblin' speed on their wistful "Stay Around a Little Longer" and trades slinky, Latin-laced lines with Carlos Santana on "Where the Blues Begins."

The voice is clearly rusting. Yet that often enhances the dramatic storytelling as Neil Diamond serves bygone ballad faves like "Ain't No Sunshine," "Yesterday" and "Alone Again (Naturally)" on "Dreams" (Columbia, B-).

GATOR BITES: Trixie Whitley carries on in the fevered vocal vein of her late dad Chris Whitley as front woman of Black Dub on their debut album of the same name (Jive, B). Think an atmospheric swirl (no two performances alike) of hypno-blues, free rock and Jamaican dub as deconstructed by guitarist/sound architect Daniel Lanois with New Orleans percussion buddies Brian Blade and Daryl Johnson. Try on the head-spinning "Ring the Alarm."

If Dr. John fronted the Grateful Dead, they might sound like 7 Walkers, a stellar combine of Bay Area and New Orleans talents debuting with their eponymously titled set (Response Records, B+).

Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann and crafty lyricist Robert Hunter are the party of the first part, while Papa Mali (guitar/vocals/tunes) and friends carve out those swampadelic Crescent City impressions. Willie Nelson helps on "King Cotton Blues," Meters' bassist George Porter Jr. on the voodoo groover "Chingo!"

Twang tones much of Elvis Costello's "National Ransom" (Hear Music, B-) as produced by T-Bone Burnett. Yet despite the laid-back aura, lyrics are oft jumbled beyond recognition and only oddballs like the nouveau-ragtime "A Slow Drag with Josephine" jumped out and bit me.

LENNON AND MCCARTNEY: In sweet vocal harmony with Charlotte Kemp Muhl, Sean Lennon shares dreamy folk ramblings as the Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger on "Acoustic Sessions" (Chimera Music. No. 5, B). In truthiness, these songs are more whimsical than fanged, more like dad John Lennon's printed poetics or the "wear your hair like heaven" anthems of hippy trippy troubadour Donovan.

The sound's been tweaked for the new Paul McCartney Archive Collection version of Macca's Wings' set "Band on the Run" (MPL/Hear/Concord, B+). But it's the 90 minutes of rough-hewn videos found on the deluxe edition's bonus DVD - music videos, home movies of a trip to Lagos, Nigeria, the photo shoot for the album cover and, especially, the (almost) live "One Hand Clapping" set of performances at Abbey Road Studios - that piqued my interest. Especially Paulie's preface that he wrote cabaret-flavored songs because he thought the rock thing couldn't last!

While blood work hasn't been checked, it wouldn't surprise to find the artist known as Bleu turns out to be the illegitimate child of Mr. McCartney. The evidence? Bleu's latest crop of Fab-One-style power pop "Four" (The Major Label, B).