As David and David, Davids Baerwald and Ricketts made momentary history with the 1986 release of Boomtown, a spare, painful chronicle of how ugly disappointment can be when it's California's golden promise that fails. Boomtown was the last gasp of postpunk artists who were learning that they either had to change their anti-industry tune or sink like a stone. The record did neither, but when the good time of playing music got obscured by compromise and deal making, David and David voluntarily disappeared from view.

After four years of finger drumming from impatient fans, Baerwald offers Bedtime Stories, which features a new brand of paranoid introspection from a man who has a better handle on disenchantment. Part coda to the record-biz jig, part love letter to Los Angeles and part safari through a terrain of heartbreak and mistakes, Bedtime Stories finds Baerwald in glorious voice, one that suggests power when it's hushed and comes on like a hurricane when it roars. Most of the songs walk the line between fear and regret, but things never get too mournful – Baer-wald's animated vocals and Larry Klein's gleaming production keep the gritty rock churning and the 3:00-a.m.-of-the-soul ballads inspiriting.

Baerwald is at ease both barreling panic-stricken through "Dance" or gently withdrawing his questions on "Hello Mary": "Okay, we won't talk about your man." An unexpected amount of faith colors his resignation to Los Angeles as a microcosm of the rot and possibility at the heart of America. And hope springs surprising on the last four songs. Baer-wald's mistrust ebbs a bit on "Colette" – she said it, but he's sure she can't mean it. Elsewhere, he offers compensation for past hurts, makes grandiose declarations and generally comes off gracious. Baer-wald's bedtime stories may rattle your sleep, but in their generosity, they're brushed with daylight. (RS 581)

ARION BERGER