* * * * <i> Great Balls of Fire</i> * * * <i> Good Vibrations</i> * * <i> Maybe Baby</i> * <i> Running on Empty : </i> : PET SHOP POP

* * 1/2 “ACTUALLY.” Pet Shop Boys. EMI-America. This brand of pop music, sung in a deadpan manner with a heavy emphasis on money and all the nice things it can buy, is a tad soulless. This British duo’s estimation of love’s value can be summed up in lyrics like “I love you, you pay my rent.” Not exactly romantic , but practical, eh wot? The most intriguing cut is the post-disco, awash-with-Catholic-guilt “It’s a Sin.” The boys do seem to take themselves a bit seriously --with most songs delivered as if to imply that they contain Very Big Ideas--but on “Sin,” the device is justified. “One More Chance,” the album’s only other interesting track, is not bad. Even if it does sound like “Son of West End Girls.”