CHILI TODAY, HOT TAMALE!!!

Warner Bros.’ punk-funk progenitors blazed back to the upper regions of the HITS Top 50 Albums Chart with a kick-ass #2 bow on sales north of 275k. That’s a lot of tube socks!

Wherehouse Music’s astute Bob Bell grabbed the following quote from his storehouse of retail cliches: "Huge first-week numbers show that clearly the long-term success of Californification helped to build a massive demand for this new release."

The Chili Peppers’ surge, spiked by Best Buy’s below-cost $9.99 price last Tuesday, wasn’t enough to dislodge Fo’ Reel/Universal’s Nelly from the top spot, but it was an impressive first week nonetheless for the 20-year veterans.

And speaking of veteran rockers, Geffen/Interscope’s Counting Crows, who also benefited from Best Buy’s cut-rate pricing program, locked down the #5 spot on nearly 150k units, another indication that Rock is thriving, even if business sucks overall.

Added Bell: "Tremendous sales. I think this shows that grown-ups are still buying records."

In addition, Ruff Ryders/Interscope rap DJ Styles garnered a Top 10 bow with his debut, A Gangster and a Gentleman, entering at #6.

Best Buy’s week-long $5.99 pricing on Arista skate-pop-punk diva Avril Lavigne helped keep that album in the Top Five, boasting a robust 26% rise in sales over the previous week.

Bell woke up long enough to put in two more cents: "Avril just won’t stop. This is a true developing-artist breakthrough. No, I’m serious."

Completing the Top Five, Aftermath/Interscope hip-hop icon Eminem dropped a spot to #3, with a still-impressive mark of almost 225k for the week.

Rounding out the Top 10 are Murder Inc./IDJ’s Irv Gotti Presents… (#7), 143/Reprise’s Josh Groban, who parlayed TV appearances into a 27-8/122% rise, Murder Inc./IDJ’s Ashanti (#9) and Columbia/CRG’s Aerosmith greatest-hits album (#10).

Other heartening upward moves continue to be made by two breaking singer-songwriter newcomers: Blue Note’s Norah Jones (21-14) and Aware/Columbia’s John Mayer (23-18). Jive rapper E-40 debuted at #16.

Next week, RCA’s Dave Matthews Band, the beneficiary of this week’s Best Buy $9.99 Tuesday, will top the charts with retail sales estimates in the 500k area.