‘BLOOD’ TEST : * * * * <i> Great Balls of Fire</i> * * * <i> Good Vibrations</i> * * <i> Maybe Baby</i> * <i> Running on Empty : </i>

* * * “GYPSY BLOOD.” Mason Ruffner. CBS Associated. If the success of Robert Cray and the Fabulous Thunderbirds means that record buyers are developing a taste for blues-based American rock ‘n’ roll, Mason Ruffner deserves to be that audience’s next discovery. On his second album, the Texas-based guitarist, singer and songwriter stomps his way through a batch of greasy, trashy roadhouse rockers, some of them dressed up in synthesizers and other modern duds. Though it sounds more timely and current than his 1985 debut, Ruffner still fills his blues-rooted songs with flashy, Hendrix-inspired guitar parts, and sings them in a Dylan-style snarl. Producer Dave Edmunds gives “Gypsy Blood” a full-bodied kick, and while the album is inconsistent, it’s powered by the unstoppable momentum of a gifted rocker who knows his roots, and knows where he wants to take them.