It’s still early in the calendar, but I can’t remember a recent year that looked so promising for good ol’ fashioned guitar rock. The Black Keys, the Dexateens, the Drive-by Truckers, the Raconteurs, and Dead Meadow all have records out already this year, and they’re all pretty darn good. The Rolling Stones might be long past their expiration date, Black Sabbath might be receding into the mists, and Zeppelin might be refusing to tour, but we have plenty of bands who walked away from their records well-schooled.

Surprisingly, the Truckers’ Brighter than Creation’s Dark might be the least guitar-centric record of the lot. Those guys were so loud during one show that I swear my battered ears were having auditory hallucinations, and adding a delay to everything they heard as a defense mechanism. Smartly, the band looked around after Jason Isbell’s departure, saw not only Spooner Oldham on keyboards but also multi-instrumentalist John Neff sitting there with a pedal steel guitar, and ratcheted their Big Rock sound down accordingly.

The Dexateens, who often open for the Truckers, are doing their best to fill the void. Their current release, Lost and Found, is available for free download from their website (http://www.dexateens.net), and it’s a strong example of Stonesy, intertwining guitar goodness. It’s also a perfect intro to the band, one that will have you smiling like someone who just snuck some real eggs into their low-cholesterol breakfast. Their upcoming full-length should be a real barnburner.

The Raconteurs, as with all things associated with White Stripes leader Jack Black, turn the guitars up as well. Granted, the band seems to suffer a little bit of an identity crisis as White learns his way around Brendan Benson’s pop sensibilities and as Benson comes to terms with White’s desire to be Jimmy Page. But oh, that guitar sound he gets when he cranks up the amps!

The Black Keys are the real surprise here. Their collaboration with Danger Mouse is a perfect example of a producer helping the band, instead of imposing their will (I’m talking to you, Glenn Ballard, destroyer of worlds and careers). Granted, Danger Mouse probably needed a break from the cognitive dissonance he must suffer in Gnarls Barkley, where he must constantly confront the sight of Cee-Lo, a rather large man, sounding like Nina Simone. But the little sound additions he brings in — the shorts blasts of saxophone, organ, and other things that have never come near a Black Keys session before — really flesh out the band’s sound. And some of Attack & Release is the best stuff the Keys have ever done. “Lies” comes across like a mix of vintage soul by way of Zeppelin’s “Since I’ve Been Loving You”, while “Oceans and Streams” is an old soul’s lament turned up to 11. Really strong stuff.