Hellogoodbye's debut album is schizophrenia at its best. This may be due to both the Huntington Beach, Ca., quartet's penchant for offbeat humor and producer Matt Mahaffey's sonic proclivities. Mahaffey has worked with Beck and Pink, so it's no surprise the party is in full effect on an album that includes club beats, pop hooks and punk- rock chords. Unlike other genre-bending bands, such as Reggie and the Full Effect, "Zombies!..." retains the feel of a cohesive album, despite diverse songs. "Here (In Your Arms)," with a throbbing techno beat throughout the chorus, might play in a European club, but it fits well along side Beach Boys homage "Baby, It's Fact." Despite the fact that it's sometimes hard to understand Forrest Kline's lyrics through the voice synthesizers, "Zombies!..." might be the party album of the summer.

* The Early November "The Mother, The Mechanic, and the Path" (Drive-Thru Records)

At the end of Philip Roth's "Portnoy's Complaint," Alex Portnoy has just taken a novel to whine to a psychiatrist about his mother. Then, the punchline, as Dr. Spielvogel asks, "Vee may to begin?" There's nothing as clever or funny on The Early November's new triple album couch session. Bands are often taken to task for self-indulgent double albums, but the New Jersey-based rock band bypasses something as grandiose as The Smashing Pumpkins' "Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness" and jettisons into Prince territory. The semi-autobiographical "plot" involves the narrator dealing with his overbearing father, running away with a girlfriend, having a child and gradually becoming the father he left. The narrator finds himself on a psychiatrist's couch for much of the third disc, only later to learn that the doctor is nothing more than a voice in his head. Where's Spielvogel when you need him?

* Bitter:Sweet "The Mating Game" (Quango)

It's easy to imagine James Bond wiping the blood off his gun, and wistfully glancing at a recently departed femme fatale as Bitter:Sweet plays unobtrusively in the background. Los Angeles-based Bitter:Sweet fits snugly between the pop harmonies found on a Cardigans album and Portishead's ambient stoner music. "The Mating Game" is an atmospheric album of scratches, orchestration and hooks, all held together by deceptively simple production choices. The title track, for example, features string and horn arrangements, over a trip-hop beat. It's too bad Chris Cornell has already been tapped for the theme to the upcoming "Casino Royale." Bitter:Sweet vocalist Shana Halligan has "Bond Girl" written all over her. Her vocals -and Kiran Shahani's music -are simultaneously smooth, slick and sexy.