Engineers include: Doug Easley, Davis McCain, Fluss.

Recording information: Chicago, IL; Cybertechnics, Dayton, OH; Dreamland, Woodstock, NY; Easley Recording, Memphis, TN; Pie, Long Island, NY; Totally Wi.

Unknown Contributor Role: Tom Skerritt.

Regardless of whether The Amps are Kim Deal's next rock band or just a temporary reprieve from her old one (The Breeders), PACER, the group's debut, is a confident, forceful album, loaded with lo-fi nuggets and none of the sloppy baggage usually attributed to side projects. The cast is different--only Breeders drummer Jim MacPherson's Keith Moon-like explosions are familiar--but Deal's boisterous musical personality is present throughout.

The settings are, at once, diverse and one-dimensional--gruff, punky rip-roarers ("Tipp City"), intoxocatingly simple garage-pop ("Pacer"), anthemic power-chord rock ("Dedicated"). And while the reinterpretation of an old Breeders b-side ("Hoverin") may be as close as Deal's lyrics have ever hinted at morality--"don't do it," she warns, "if you wanna stick around"--far more typical is her drunken query on the blustery "Empty Glasses": "Where's the waitress? Where's my other shoe?" Simple admissions like these make PACER the realistic soundtrack of '90s alterna-style. Drink it in.