"The Smiths it ain't," says Johnny Marr of his new band. And perhaps that is precisely the point. After all, in the nearly 15 years since he left The Smiths -- effectively putting an end to what is arguably the most important British band of the 1980s -- Marr has continually confounded expectations.

There's been his work with Matt Johnson in The The; three records, under the name Electronic, with New Order's Bernard Sumner; and appearances on recordings with Oasis, Neil Finn and Beth Orton. Marr, one of the most revered rock guitarists around, seemed to have inadvertently turned himself into a high-end session musician. Finally, he says, it was time for his own band again, hence The Healers and their upcoming Marr-produced debut, Boomslang.

"I could have done something that sounded like The Smiths with a different singer, and I know that," Marr, 39, says in a recent phone interview from his Manchester home. "But I did what was instinctive to me. This is where I am right now."

Marr has a hunch Smiths fans will be knocked over, "in a good way," by his new musical direction, which blends hard rock, acoustic pop and psychedelia. He never shrugs off intuition: It's what led him, at 18, to recruit Morrissey as The Smiths' singer. And it's what drew him to drummer Zak Starkey, whom he first met in a New York hotel elevator five years ago.

"He's there with The Who, we start talking in the elevator and there's just this lovely vibe," Marr recalls. "I have no idea who he is -- no idea he's Ringo Starr's son." The two musicians exchanged room numbers, chatted over tea and then "spent the next 48 hours running all over the city becoming new best friends."

"For a long time it was just two guys getting together to play without any consideration of forming a band," Marr says. "I had a friend who just happened to be a great musician."

Nearly three years ago, Marr recruited Starkey, ex-Kula Shaker bassist Alonza Bevan (now the third member of Johnny Marr + The Healers) and a few other musicians to play around in the studio with some songs he'd written. There was no singer lined up, so Marr became the vocalist. The job stuck.

"I know what I am and what I'm not," Marr says. "And I can honestly say that I like the way I sing. I didn't try to emulate anyone, be anyone. I just sing."

His more-than-capable voice -- at times reminiscent of childhood idol Marc Bolan -- sounds surprisingly at ease accompanying his always supple, ringing guitar work.

"It's sort of like at the end of a B-movie when the mute child speaks and says Œma-ma,'" Marr says. "It comes as a shock to people. People like to think that guitarists just hang upside down in our hotel rooms like bats; they have really weird ideas about what we can and cannot do. I'm not really interested in becoming the new Jimmy Page, or Jeff Beck or Eric Clapton. I want to do a lot of different things, and right now, that includes singing."

Of course, the singer most closely linked with Marr's songwriting and guitar work is Stephen Patrick Morrissey, who once said Marr's decision to break up The Smiths "could have killed me." The sexually ambiguous, outspoken, finicky Morrissey seemed (and still seems) about as out-there as Marr comes off sane and sturdily grounded.

So what was the glue that enabled these two strangers to form what Marr describes as a "super-intense close relationship," resulting in some 70 amazingly clever three-minute songs in little over four years?

"No one else on the planet seemed as nuts as me about a number of things. We both seemed to have this mystical association with girl groups, really early R&B sung by women with 5-foot hair, and we both adored Patti Smith, The New York Dolls and that whole scene."

Even more importantly, "Morrissey understood the excitement that comes from putting your headphones on and hearing the crackles before the record came in," Marr says. "I was dedicating my life to music to a ridiculous degree. By age 13, it was my entire focus. I met him, he had that same passion, and it just took off." At the outset, The Smiths had few, if any, expectations about their success; even now, Marr says, he's amazed at how venerated their music is in England. (Last year, the music weekly NME named The Smiths "The Most Influential Band in British History," beating out even The Beatles.)

Marr credits his wife, Angie -- his girlfriend from the time he was 14. "It was always me and Angie; then me and Angie and Morrissey; then me and Angie and whoever was my bass player," Marr says. "She's a constant in my life, and you can't underestimate that in terms of your sanity."

Marr's not sure how the British press will react to the guitar-laden Boomslang, but he's happily anticipating a "good kicking."

"In the U.K., if you are somebody, they like to make you nobody very soon," Marr explains. "But that's OK, it keeps me on my toes."

The tracks on Boomslang range from hard rocking (the T. Rex-ish "Need It") to romantic ("You Are the Magic"). A palpable sense of energy, bordering on euphoria, runs throughout the entire 50 minutes. "We had fun," Marr says, "and hopefully that shows."

Johnny Marr + The Healers play Sat., Jan. 18, 9 p.m., $20, with Mellowdrone, The North Star, 27th and Poplar sts., 215-684-0808.