New York City rock combines druggy transcendence with dirty, sexy sleaze. Always entertaining, the genre has given us such diverse gems as The New York Dolls, Blondie, and Toilet Boys. In general, the stuff sounds like rough-hewn glam-meets-lazy metal-meets-snotty pop.

Every generation of aspiring rock-minded New York residents re-invents the wheel, either forgetting or forgiving the past to create yet another round of this fabled product. Perhaps it's something in the water, but the Big Apple's rock generally sounds the same down through the years.

Now comes the latest installment, examples of which can be found on Steven Blush's comp CD, New York City Rock N Roll. Bad-ass bands such as Sex Slaves, Slunt, Queen V, Skum, Apocalypstik, Detox Darlings, Joker Five Speed, Pretty Suicide and others prove that the more things change, the more they stay the same. Some of the bands rule, some suck, but in every case their best songs to date are on this CD, making for a fabulous listening experience. Throughout it all, chicks predominate.

Know-it-alls are already onto this shit, but for the rest of you, a crash course is required. Here it is.

George Petros