Intriguing Sounds From Across the Atlantic : Albums: New releases offer a glimpse of the future and the past with such acts as McCarthy and Mega City Four.

Import albums have long provided a glimpse of the future for rock fans. From the Beatles through the Cure through the Stone Roses, many important and influential British or European acts got their first exposure on this side of the Atlantic through releases at first available only as imports.

In recent years, the well seems to have dried some, as U.S. record companies are quicker to sign alternative bands both domestic and foreign. But a diligent seeker can still find a plethora of intriguing sounds--which may or may not become stateside hits at a later time--by combing the import bins at local record shops.

A handful of current imports recommended by record store managers and/or drawing interest from several L.A. disc jockeys show that imports can also provide a glimpse of the past. New acts Mega City Four, Birdland and Ride strongly echo the melodic punk sounds made 10 years ago in the U.K. by the Buzzcocks and the Undertones. But the two most interesting releases--by London acts McCarthy and Furniture--have taken the spirit of that era and made something new from it. Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor) to five (a classic).

*** 1/2 McCarthy, “Banking, Violence and the Inner Life Today,” (Midnight Music). With a title like that, and such songs as “Use a Bank I’d Rather Die” and “The Drinking Song of the Merchant Bankers” you’d be right to expect an anti-Thatcher, anti-capitalism tone. But instead of the thrashy politipunk you might expect it to ride on, this quintet serves up a heady brew of swirling organ and guitars that sometimes calls to mind the textures of the Smiths and the Cure, but with more of a seductive, ‘60s haze. The lyrics--printed in French and German as well as English (for sake of European unity?)--are obsessive and blunt, forming a perfect marriage with the music. The only question: Having played the themes to the hilt, can McCarthy move on to new ground with the same effectiveness next time around?

*** Furniture, “Food, Sex & Paranoia,” (BMG/Arista). Rather than politics, Furniture’s obsessions are all romantic--actually, about the emotionally fatal, all-consuming side of romance. But the co-ed quintet’s music is at times as haunting as McCarthy’s, sometimes reminiscent of Prefab Sprout or Deacon Blue, though often more texturally inventive and dynamic. Still, the music is never as magnetic as lyrics like “One of us is dying, one of us is dead, one of us is wishing we were somewhere else instead.” Of all the acts considered in this column, Furniture may stand the best chance of making the leap across the sea, thanks in part to the big-time connections of producer Mike Thorne (who worked with such post-punkers as Wire and A Flock of Seagulls) and the major international corporation that releases its records.

*** Mega City Four, “Tranzophobia,” (Decoy). The tuneful rush of early Buzzcocks and Undertones lives on, as does the joyfully adolescent attitude summed up in this passage from a liner note to the band’s fans: “You are one source of constant inspiration and whatever you continue to throw at us will always be returned, twice as hard, in the only manner we know how.”

*** Ride, “Ride,” “Play” (Creation). Mix in some Joy Division darkness with the Buzzcocks rush and you’ve got the formula displayed by this Oxford band on these two EPs. More energy than memorability, but enough inventiveness to seem a promising start. It’s also worth noting that Creation is a hot London independent label that introduced such alternative favorites as House of Love.

** 1/2 Birdland, “Sleep With Me” (Lazy Records). A blond male quartet, Birdland calls to mind on this EP the disposable post-punk that came by the boatload on both sides of the Atlantic 10 years ago. Enjoyable at the moment, but not something at this stage likely to be remembered 10 years from now.