POP-A-BILLY PASTICHE : CHECK LIST: **** Great Balls of Fire, *** Good Vibrations, ** Maybe Baby, * Running on Empty

** 1/2”MARY JEAN AND 9 OTHERS.” Marshall Crenshaw. Warner Bros. Every song’s a gem, the singing and playing are spare and direct, the whole album’s a charming pastiche of updated, hook-laden Beatlish pop-a-billy styles--and still somehow Crenshaw’s fourth album disappoints. The seemingly natural pairing of Crenshaw and producer Don Dixon fails to make sparks fly, and the album is a frustrating session of “if onlys”: if only some of the tempos were pushed a bit . . . if only the guitar sound were brighter . . . if only the songs didn’t cover the same ground as Crenshaw’s prior work. Even a version of Peter Case’s “Steel Strings” doesn’t click, with a guitar solo by Mitch Easter that--though quite good--detracts from the song’s message about the lost powers of simple rock songs--the reviving of which has always been Crenshaw’s strongest suit.