If Elvis Costello, Graham Parker and Joe Jackson hadn’t gotten there first, there might have been a place of importance in the music world for Master Dickie, who was previously in the first-wave Boston indie band Susan. While he doesn’t imitate any of those gents, he does strive for a similarly intense persona via hard-hitting, lyrical material. Unfortunately, Dickie and his Desires offer more flash than substance, making these listenable albums the musical equivalents of jokes without punchlines.