For a debut effort, Bad Lieutenant [ tickets ]'s "Never Cry Another Tear" has some big shoes to fill. Not only does the act take its name from Abel Ferrara's acclaimed 1992 twisted cop flick, it's fronted by Bernard Sumner, the voice of New Order and guitarist/songwriter in Joy Division. While there's nothing here as shocking as Harvey Keitel's car-side wank-off scene or as innovative as Joy Division or early New Order, there's still plenty worthy of your attention here.

With Sumner handling the bulk of the vocals and guitar work, New Order's Stephen Morris drumming on some tracks, and late-period New Order member Phil Cunningham on guitar and keyboards, it's not a huge surprise that at times Bad Lieutenant sounds an awful lot like New Order, minus Peter Hook's melodic and muscular bass lines. Yet with newcomer Jake Evans contributing vocals and guitar and Blur's Alex James on bass on some tracks, Sumner opts to put the synthesizers in the background and bring the guitars to the forefront. The result is some pleasant, jangly modern folk-rock that on occasion veers into classic rock territory. "Summer Days on Holiday" heats up with some blistering guitar duels, "Dynamo," with its mix of synthesizers and acoustic power chords, sounds Who-like, especially when the Keith Moon-style drum fills, and harmonica kick in toward the track's epic conclusion. In the album-closing "Head into Tomorrow," Bad Lieutenant even dips into "Led Zeppelin III"/side 2-territory with comforting acoustic riffing and Evans' plaintive vocals.

Overall "Never Cry Another Tear" is on par or better than anything Sumner did with Johnny Marr in the '90s side-project Electronic and it certainly sends a message to Sumner's estranged New Order bandmate Hook that he can get along just fine without him. Your move, Hooky.