GOOD rock music could now be put alongside blonde hair and Volvos as something to be associated with Sweden.

With the recent buzz surrounding The Hives and the even cooler The (International) Noise Conspiracy, you could have been forgiven for missing out on The Hellacopters. Like their touring partners, The Datsuns, these five hairy retro rockers are about as no nonsense as the genre gets. By The Grace of God is a worthy, more polished follow-up to High Visibility and simplicity is its greatest strength. The booming guitars and stomping chorus of the opening, high-energy title track set the tone of the record. Its cracking middle section, consisting of Carry Me Home, Rainy Day Revisited and It's Good But It Just Isn't Right, will leave you out of breath but gasping for more. But be warned: The Hellacopters' sound may begin to grate by track 13 and the record is not without its fillers, most notably, The Exorcist.

Updated: 10:40 Thursday, January 16, 2003