Sorting through last year's power-pop bonanza (West Coast division), it wasn't hard to come up with a mnemonic for the Motels: they weren't the gang with the pedigree, or the crew with the near-hit or one of the several bands that Earle Mankey produced – they were the group with the girl singer. Unfortunately, it was a little tougher trying to pick their music out of a crowd, and Careful doesn't do much to overcome this problem.

Martha Davis has a solid, torchy voice, but she tends to twist it into a smirk à la Suzanne Fellini ("Danger") or clip it to a Lene Lovich staccato ("Careful"), both of which sound studiously unnatural. Davis is at her best in comparatively straight-ahead rockers like the infectious "Days Are O.K. (but the Nights Were Made for Love)," written by guitarist Tim McGovern, newly kidnapped from the Pop. Here, she seems less postured and, ironically, sexier.

McGovern is Careful's greatest asset, not only for his songwriting but for the new muscle he brings to the Motels' sound. His terse lyrics and edgy fuzz-tone solo give "Envy" an honest urgency that's absent from the brittle compositions of keyboardist Marty Jourard and bassist Michael Goodroe, as well as from Davis' own tunes. Martha Davis can be a smart, slick wordsmith ("Whose problem am I/If I'm not yours/You didn't have to adopt me"), but her melodies are generally hookless and plodding. Without the kick this band gets from Tim McGovern, the Motels would be strictly prefab. (RS 327)

DEBRA RAE COHEN