Aggressively melodic and affectedly English, Warm Jets' major-label debut, Future Signs, seems at first listen to be the legacy of mid- to late-Eighties British brooders like the Smiths and the Wedding Present. But while Morrissey has always kept his misery urban and working class, Jets frontman Louis Jones takes a direct cue from David Bowie and speaks from the desolate reaches of outer space. "On our pocket radios we're picking up strange new waves," he sings on the title track, with Paul Noble's guitar serving as sirenlike counterpoint. "Silver Surfer" finds Warm Jets at their most sci-fi clever, blending Jones' laconic vocals with futuristic rock noise and beach-bum pop – in an inspired moment of irony, the guitar wails out approximations of Jan and Dean harmonies. Similarly enjoyable are lean, energetic rock songs like "Move Away" and "Maestro." Take your protein pills and put your helmet on: Future Signs bode well. (RS 792)

NOAH TARNOW