Reviews of two new releases   Elastica The Menace WEA/Atlantic Frischmannlicious: Wire, the Fall, Slanted and Enchanted Scheduled for release Aug. 22.   Back in '95, Elastica's Justine Frischmann and Donna Matthews became the hip older sisters of Britpop. Dismissing the all-too-obvious retro poses of their peers, they channeled their haughty Wire/Fall avant-punk obsessions into a string of sneering, catchy singles and an impeccable debut album. Now, Frischmann has finally culled tunes from four years of on-again, off-again recording (delayed by creative block, drug problems and Matthews' departure) and remixed them to something approaching consistency for a very belated sophomore album. The spiky crew is still up to its old tricks--all the members of Wire get songwriting credits, Mark E. Smith himself guest stars on the Fall-referencing "How He Wrote Elastica Man"--but progress of sorts has been made. Compared to Elastica '95, this sound is rougher and more adventurous. More Pavement, if you will. "Mad Dog God Dam" is alternately dinky and churning keyboard/guitar NuWave, while the raunchy riff and sassy vocals of "Love Like Ours" are nailed to the floor by ferocious percussion. "My Sex" steals lyrics from The Smiths' "Sweet and Tender Hooligan." Two vestigal Matthews contributions typify the album's occasional forays into atmospheric drone. The problem with The Menace is its aimlessness; it is, in fact, less an album than an odds 'n' sods compilation. The band's irreproachable cool remains, and despite the pervasive feel of an aborted experiment, there's proof enough here that, with some focus and stability, we still have every right to expect very good things of Elastica in the future. Christopher McQuain   Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Jesus' Son Mammoth Do not listen if you are currently taking: Methadone.   Lift your arms, show those ready veins. The soundtrack to Jesus' Son is a post-junkie-chic dream. How better to mirror our lost narrator Fuckhead's soul than with slow, dreary ballads like the title song, "Jesus' Son" by Joe Henry. Author Denis Johnson's own dark humor even seems to come across, as "The Ballad of the Green Berets" slips into an otherwise mournful mix. Still, with soulful wails from Joe Tex, drowning in your own beer can't be that bad. Listening to the Jesus' Son soundtrack even conjures up those vein-smacking salad days of spinning that legendary Trainspotting album. But this is different: more '70s, more organic, none of that Euro sound. Just pure, wholesome American junkie family fun, like Wilco's "Airline to Heaven," an old Woody Guthrie tune. Sorry Renton, but for a short time, Fuckhead's moving in and taking charge of the headphones and the cool kids. Better check your pockets to make sure your dead neighbor's dole checks are still there, and buy some more tight clothes. Jay Nebel