Ambitious Astons : * * * * <i> Great Balls of Fire</i> * * * <i> Good Vibrations</i> * * <i> Maybe Baby</i> * <i> Running on Empty : </i>

* * 1/2GENE LOVES JEZEBEL. “The House of Dolls.” The fashion band of the moment, Gene Loves Jezebel has combined its pseudo-mystical post-punk beginnings, a tad of the ol’ glam rock, a guitar sound partially copped from U2 and a solid backbeat to create a bridge between New Romanticism and New Metal.

Resolutely determined to take their rightful place as superstars in the pop hierarchy, leaders Michael and Jay Aston bedeck themselves in decadent rock ‘n’ roll Gypsy drag and sing songs aimed at raising the libido of every screaming teen-age girl hung up on pouty lips and English (or, in this case, Welsh) accents.

While those with more mature tastes might be disconcerted by the Aston twins’ habit of punctuating their moderne hard-pop with the kind of vocal shrieks and squawks one usually associates with a barnyard, the little girls understand.

Not that the Astons are completely useless. Gene Loves Jezebel’s echo-laden sound is pleasant and sensual in its rock-hard rhythms and floating guitar work, with the occasionally haunting chorus (“Suspicion”) redeeming the silliness.

But lifting a famous line by the Sex Pistols in the hit-ready “Motion of Love” is pushing it, even if their audience was probably 5 years old when the Pistols sang “I know what I want and I know how to get it.” Obviously, Gene Loves Jezebel has taken that slogan to heart.