POP MUSIC : SPRING ALBUM ROUNDUP

** 1/2 RIDE “Going Blank Again” Sire

The English kids in Ride must have been going through their parents’ record collections. How else to explain an album that kicks off with synthesizers sounding like the Who’s “Won’t Get Fooled Again,” ends with a song that uses the “Whiter Shade of Pale” organ sound and along the way includes echoes of everything from early Beatles to early Roxy Music and Eno (without the electronics)? There’s even a song that sounds like the chorus from Donovan’s “Atlantis.”

On the surface that seems like a real letdown from the distinctive wall o’ guitars sound of last year’s “Nowhere” album. Why would a forward-thinking group like this turn so hard to the past?

But for all the sonic rush of its sound, Ride was in danger of painting itself in a corner, and this album sounds like an exploratory mission to find new textures and approaches. And all in all, the retro-derived experimenting leads to consistently involving results that stand on their own merits. So call this album a noteworthy transitional effort and keep your fingers crossed that it will lead to the big breakthrough next time.

Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor) to four (excellent).