1995 THE ENTERTAINERS/THE ROOKIES

WAS IT THOSE fast, ardent songs about sex? Was it the way they conjured up a lost '70s world of leather, safety pins, and vinyl? Or was it those lips? Elastica's leader, Justine Frischmann, has the kind of full, taffyish mouth that can smirk at a bloke too blotto to perform, sneer ''Is there something you lack when I'm flat on my back?'' and somehow make him love every harsh word. Whatever the reason, the foursome that formed Elastica -- (left to right) bassist Annie Holland, 29; drummer Justin Welch, 23; guitarist Donna Matthews, 27; and Frischmann, 26 -- leapfrogged over their macho British brethren, snagged a Lollapalooza spot, and put out a self-titled debut album that whipped American kids into a lather. Frischmann's life is tabloid fodder in London, but now ''I get recognized as much here as I do at home,'' she muses. Hmm. Maybe it is the lips.