Never Cry Another Tear

With vocals and guitar from New Order frontman Bernard Sumner, the debut album from Bad Lieutenant rings with familiar joys - playing off beautifully observed minimalism and a voice of wonderfully understated north-western soul. But there's also a new voice to be heard, one again from England's northwest.

Singing alongside Bernard is Jake Evans, a talented musician from Macclesfield. This Cheshire town has had significant part in the story to date. It was the point of origin of both Ian Curtis and Stephen Morris, one half of a band whose northern rock transformations seem to resound more powerfully with every passing year. A band called Joy Division. Bad Lieutenant are built on this sainted musical heritage - centering on Bernard Sumner's voice and guitar and also with Stephen Morris drumming on some tracks. The album also featuring Phil Cunningham, a man familiar from both Marion and the most recent incarnation of New Order.

Bad Lieutenant's blend of youth and experience, of local roots and musical futurism, is perhaps reflected in their favored rehearsal location - at Stephen Morris's hilltop farm where a fulls-size BBC Dalek sits in the corner of the rehearsal room. Morris is the band's full-time live drummer, with the line-up as follows: Bernard Sumner (vocals/guitar), Stephen Morris (drums), Phil Cunningham (guitar/keyboards/vocals), Jake Evans (vocals/guitar), Tom Chapman (bass).