There's such a temptation in happy old America to make fun of the Alarm for their fretfulness. They're worried men with worried songs. But it's rare to hear a new band so committed and hopeful and smart, and they have a ringing, often stirring sound. With a fresh, muscular lineup of two acoustic guitars, bass and drums, the Alarm are both hippies and latter-day punks, descendants of both Bob Dylan and the Clash. The best cut here, "The Deceiver," is a melodic, anthemic rant against "the maker of illusions/You break up every dream we've ever made."

The Alarm has a better feel for a song than U2, and they're not as rah-rah as Big Country, but somehow they fit in a niche with those two bands: They share an optimism, an honesty that comes through the music. In songs like "Where Were You Hiding When the Storm Broke?" with its rolling drums, they're not afraid to tackle big ideas ("After all time building up/Comes inevitable knocking down"). They're more interested in war and soldiers, truth and justice, than in girls. That passion for leading a march makes them come off a little too gung-ho – the songs go on and on, and they write too many lines about things like the "blaze of glory" – but it swells from their looking at what they think is deceitful, hollow and unholy. No wonder they're all shook up. This is one of the best new live bands I heard last year, and they've put a lot of that power into their first album. (RS 418)

DEBBY MILLER