**1/2 The London Suede

HEAD MUSIC

(Nude/Columbia)

The London Suede never made it to Oasis levels in the US. Both bands peddle the same sort of old-fashioned Brit-rock, but compared to the Gallagher brothers, singer Brett Anderson is just too fey for stateside tastes -- and Americans haven't been too keen on embracing, other than Hanson, anything sexually ambiguous lately.

Suede remain popular in the UK, however, despite the 1994 departure of guitarist Bernard Butler, who many assumed was the principal architect of Suede's chunky glam sound. On his second effort with the band, guitarist Richard Oakes shows all of Butler's swagger without any of Butler's grandeur -- he's got the balls but not the heart. It adds up to an album with several terrific rockers -- especially the opener, "Electricity," and "Elephant Man" -- and a few uninspired ballads. Spicing their instrumentation with the odd electronic embellishment does little to tarnish Suede's muscular sound, and the deviations from their usual formula, like the "Young Americans"-esque "She's in Fashion" and the Princy "Savoir Faire," are fun, frothy, and lightweight. In the end, though, Head Music isn't much more than an attention-grabbing, entertaining tease.

-- Ben Auburn