Pop Music : Lone Folkie Anthems a Sharp Contrast From Alarm

Dave Sharp, lead guitarist for the rock group the Alarm, did his marching without a drummer in a solo acoustic show Saturday at the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano. But that’s quite the same as marching to a different drummer.

Sharp, who does little of the Alarm’s songwriting and even less of the singing, devoted most of his 70-minute set to material from an upcoming solo album. In theme and outlook, most of those solo songs weren’t much different from those of the Alarm, a British band that always seems to be on the march with ringing anthems.

Many of Sharp’s new songs shared the earnestness, exhortative quality and sense of embattled hopefulness familiar to fans of the Alarm--who turned out in warmly supportive fashion for the guitarist’s concert. Still, Sharp’s humble, lone folkie presentation did make for a healthy contrast.

Where the Alarm often strains for Importance, the solo Sharp was appealingly simple and unforced. The grainy burr in his throat gave his singing a warm, earthy feel as he accompanied himself with forthright strumming (no fancy picking) and an occasional blues-tinged wheeze on harmonica.

Some Alarmist tendencies cropped up in ready-for-sing-along refrains like “All through the land, everybody lend a hand, God save somebody.” But performed solo, at least, even a broad exhortation like that didn’t sound strident or pretentious.