*** The Longpigs

THE SUN IS OFTEN OUT

(Mother/Island)

U2 may have miscalculated the public's response to their "PopMart" tour, but they certainly didn't misjudge the potential of this Sheffield foursome -- one of the first acts signed to the band's Mother label. The Longpigs know how to sound at once expansive and controlled. Singer Crispin Hunt's soaring, glitter-flecked voice and broad arcs of melody swoop toward the edge of histrionic excess -- then pull back, reined in by hooks and the disciplined grandeur of the music. The shimmery bounce of the La's-like "She Said" and the sashay-swagger of "Happy Again" (guitarist Richard Hawley does a great Mick Ronson here) are drawn in strong, vivid colors before the band begin to add glass-clear harmonies and an oceanic undercurrent of atmosphere. Although it remains to be seen whether the Longpigs can break from the long shadows thrown by similar-sounding extravagant rockers like Suede and Radiohead, the group are certainly making a serious bid for the sun.

-- Jonathan Perry

(The Longpigs open for Echo and the Bunnymen this Friday, October 24, at Avalon.)