**1/2 Spice Girls

SPICE

(Virgin)

The Spice Girls -- very audibly British -- add nothing to new jill's world of naughty gestures. Their melodies skim the surface, beats barely tickle, voices sweeten and then go bitter. The lyrics either talk trash or glimpse a shameless sexiness that never comes down to putting up or shutting up.

Still, this is as good a CD as any other for getting to know new jill's fashion-conscious pitter-patter. From the pretty lips of "Wannabe" and a catty "Love Thang" to the whispers of "Who Do You Think You Are?" and the definitive "Naked," here's all the zigzagging dances a good-life wanna-be will ever need, complete with melodic wiggles and a lyrical bag of not-so-X-rated come-ons. The hip-flipping "If U Can't Dance" even features a catty rap rhymed in Spanish.

-- Michael Freedberg