POP MUSIC REVIEW : Sinead O’Connor in Promising Debut

Once in a while a performer comes along and strikes a nerve with a segment of the pop audience in a way that transcends the standard fan-entertainer emotional bond. Recently the likes of English singer Morrissey and New York’s Suzanne Vega have done that.

Now comes 21-year-old Irish singer Sinead O’Connor, and her local debut Saturday at the Wiltern Theatre was as remarkable for what it showed about her importance to her fans--especially young women--as for her considerable talent and potential.

O’Connor lays her emotions as bare as her shaven head and as raw as her powerful voice. Her songs have the graphic, violent quality of Chrissie Hynde’s early work, in which love and affection go hand in hand with lust, hate and rage.

It was that rage that connected most strongly with the Wiltern audience, most apparently during the encore of “Troy,” a bitter song of romantic betrayal that O’Connor sang accompanied just by her acoustic 12-string guitar.

But there was also a youthful playfulness to O’Connor’s performance in the way she bounded out on stage, seemingly unsure of how to deal with the adulation.

At this point she’s still a tentative performer and her band (which includes the bassist and drummer from Morrissey’s former group, the Smiths) seemed a bit stiff for the dynamic music. And at just 50 minutes, the show seemed much too short. But if O’Connor can channel her rag-doll awkwardness into a presence as striking as her voice, she could become one of the top figures in rock for the ‘90s.