They should have stuck to the bank crises ......

The band Oasis makes dense, guitar-driven anthematic rock that owes a shamelessly obvious debt to the Beatles, especially John Lennon. It isn't Radiohead in terms of musicianship or breadth of vision, nor does it have Coldplay's drive for global success. But Oasis can rattle the walls with blaring waves of sound and is the best of the bands to come out of Manchester in the 1990s. Its new album, "Dig Out Your Soul" (Big Brother), is a solid piece of work, perhaps its best since 1995's "(What's the Story) Morning Glory."

While Oasis is hugely popular at home in the U.K., it is less so in the U.S. It may be that the band's reputation as the brawling Gallagher brothers, which feeds its image in Britain, doesn't travel well. Each of Oasis's seven studio albums, including "Dig Out Your Soul," reached the top of the U.K. pop charts. It's never had a No. 1 album in the States.

I caught the band's current U.S. tour on Dec. 4 at the Staples Center here. (It was in Los Angeles that one of the Gallaghers' more notable dust-ups occurred: Fourteen years ago at the Whiskey a Go Go, a wobbly Liam insulted the audience, smacked Noel with a tambourine and ran off.) If Oasis cared to strengthen its reputation in the U.S. on this trip, it didn't show.

Liam Gallagher seemed in a surly mood from the moment the lights dimmed. He sang without emotion, his voice especially nasal and monotone, and when he'd done his part -- many Oasis songs roar to an end with an extended instrumental statement -- he stood alongside the microphone with a tambourine between his teeth or his hands folded behind his back. "Anybody here from England?" he asked before "Morning Glory." Minutes later, as "Ain't Got Nothin'" was set to begin, he said, "Any surfers here?" Aside from promoting the sale of Oasis T-shirts, that was it for his interaction with the near-capacity crowd.

Thus, some of the evening's best moments occurred when he headed off-stage. Noel Gallagher, whose voice is a tad sweeter than his brother's and thus has a shimmer of empathy, sang the stirring ballads "The Masterplan" and "Don't Look Back in Anger," which he took at a slower tempo, encouraging the audience to sing along. Though at one point he snapped, "We don't do requests," he introduced newcomer Chris Sharrock with a bit of self-deprecating humor, calling him "our 15th drummer" -- actually, he's only the fourth in the band's 17 years -- and gave a nod to a sideman, whom he identified as "the Shroud."

The lack of even the rudiments of showmanship wouldn't have mattered very much if the band rose above the dour onstage vibe they created. But the music never became transcendent despite a powerful catalog of songs. Oasis opened with a fierce attack -- "Rock 'n' Roll Star" and "Lyla" followed by the new, rousing "The Shock of Lightning." Later, a beautiful reading of Liam Gallagher's composition "I'm Outta Time" ushered in a biting version of "Wonderwall" in which the Shroud played lovely synthesizer lines that deftly penetrated the chugging acoustic guitars. Guitarist Gem Archer had a few brief but tasty solos, as did Noel Gallagher. They ended the evening with a reading of the Beatles' "I Am the Walrus."

And yet it all seemed perfunctory. At best, it was an earnest but uninspired performance; at worst, a joyless recitation of their recordings. Oasis avoids the kind of spontaneity that brings something new to the familiar and lifts musicians out of the doldrums. At a rock show, somebody ought to have some fun, but fans rarely do if the band doesn't. "Don't come and see us if you're expecting anything . . . apart from the music coming out of the speakers," Noel Gallagher told Rolling Stone magazine recently. Good advice.

By JIM FUSILLI
Los Angeles