** The Seahorses

DO IT YOURSELF

(Geffen)

Three-fourths of the newest British band to hit the top of the English pops were playing pubs this time last year. In fact, singer Chris Helme was literally plucked off the street, busking outside of a Woolworth's. Of course, when the fourth member is guitarist John Squire of England's legendary and defunct Stone Roses, the rest of the band just doesn't matter that much. Which is a shame, because with the proper personnel, Squire might be able to match the epic scope of the Roses' homonymous 1989 debut.

Instead, he's followed in the footsteps of Second Coming, the problematic Stone Roses' swan song. Do It Yourself, Squire's first post-Roses release with "The Seahorses" (a convenient anagram for "He Hates Roses"), has some of the most confident and accomplished lead guitar playing you're likely to hear on any contemporary mainstream British pop album. Unfortunately the songs aren't up to the level of his chops -- not even the Beatlesque "Love Me and Leave Me," a tune written by Squire and Oasis's Liam Gallagher. Only the opening "I Want You To Know" and the first single, "Love Is the Law" (which appears here in its full seven-minute glory), deliver any sort of melodic spark on this disappointing album.

-- Ben Heller