In Brief

** 1/2 Smithereens, “Blow-Up,” Capitol. The Smithereens blasted onto the scene with one of the great rock debut albums of the ‘80s and haven’t matched it since. Still, LP No. 4 evidences growth, with romanticism slightly less mopey and arrangements more adventurous (like the successfully string-laden “Too Much Passion”). Extra ‘60s-movie-buff points for cover art from titles-meister Saul Bass.

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