CHRISTGAU CONSUMER GUIDE

ABC: “Beauty Stab” (Mercury):: I don’t get these complaints that Martin Fry has abandoned his shallow but ingratiating pop-craft for a brave/pretentious but/and ill-advised stab at social significance. Except for “The Look Of Love,” a supercatchy fluke that apparently confused people, instant hooks weren’t how the first album worked either, and his shallowness was always more apparent than real.