CHRISTGAU CONSUMER GUIDE

THE ALPHA BAND: “Spark In The Dark" (Arista):: This unholy trio’s second album is “humbly offered in the light of the Triune God” but T-Bone Burnett still sounds like a hell of a monad to me. He doesn’t know as much as he thinks he does, but when he steps aside from the songwriting, the group usually falls flat—and when he pitches in, these guys can almost pass for a country rock Steely Dan without money. B+