Bad vibes indeed. Weighted down with a load of sour grapes, Lloyd Cole crashes through the thin line between irony and cynicism. His third solo album opens with the lush studio sound of a pop hymn: "Morning Is Broken" twists the title of a spiritual made popular by Cat Stevens during the '70s. But Cole's words are all bitterness and sarcasm – enlightenment failed. The groove compels with its guitar chimes and hints of a background chord about to break into cathartic song, but Cole's cowardly jabs at cowardly people leave the listener with a bad aftertaste. Cole chases down the sourness with the more pointed attack of "So You'd Like to Save the World," a fine pop-rock song in which he turns his able wit on millennial do-gooders. Still, he may call it sunlight instead of ultraviolet radiation, as the song's chorus says, but Cole doesn't come across as the type to visit the beach or even the local park.

Cole has admitted he fell in love with rock's promise listening to the Beatles, then came of age with punk and realized innocence was lost – or at the least, best replaced with a nihilistic pose. He says he used to find alienation inspiring and wrote with pathos about similar lost souls: His mid-'80s band the Commotions succeeded largely on the basis of the British Cole's bardic brilliance. Now the New York dweller just seems alienated and apt to lash out at the nearest object, including himself – one of the disc's best lines is "Sold my ass, now my trousers fit again." Like most fops, Cole has an ego problem, and it stems from insecurity. One track declares the artist "Holier Than Thou," while another labels him "Mister Wrong." Cole suffers from Elvis Costello syndrome: He can't get over his own cleverness even when it's tripping him up.

The cheap gibes make the nouveau-'60s sound sculptures fashioned by Cole and producer Adam Peters sound like cheap effects. Not a lot of thought is in evidence: "My Way to You" rips off the Beatles' "Don't Let Me Down"; Cole's vocals are a repetitive, menacing whisper growl throughout the album. The two mastermind the record, with previous Cole associates Matthew Sweet, Fred Maher and Neil Clark, as well as Anton Fier and John Carruthers (Siouxsie and the Banshees), playing along. Bad Vibes was released in Europe last year; the U.S. version has two extra tracks. The second, "4 M.B." (for Marc Bolan, I presume), hints that Cole may just be in a bad mood rather than burned out: Its ode to groovier times is more sap than sourpuss – he even sings about going to the park. (RS 693)

EVELYN MCDONNELL