Although they sport one of the more pretentious band names in the business, POBPAH takes a refreshingly straightforward approach to their crowd-pleasing pop tunes. The most obvious influence is ‘80s Brit pop of the Joy Division bent, but the band’s formula goes beyond just aping their idols. There’s a decidedly contemporary edge to these tunes that suggests POBPAH might have more longevity than other retro-oriented acts.

The infectious opener “Contender,” for instance, mashes up a gentle acoustic strum with a steady feedback buzz for a sound that’s equal parts Stone Roses and Luna. “Young Adult Friction” could almost be mistaken for a forgotten minor hit from twenty years ago, but here too the modern age gracefully insinuates itself. Driven by a tinkling organ riff, a smooth male-female vocal interchange and sly lyricism (“Between the stacks in the library / Not like anyone stopped to see / We came, they went, our bodies spent / Among the dust and microfiche”), the track is one of several that also evokes strong notions of The Life Pursuit-era Belle and Sebastian.

Much like Stuart Murdoch and company, POBPAH traffics largely in pretty songs that only reveal their perversity on closer listening. A casual listener might not notice, for instance, that the sugary head-bobber “This Love is Fucking Right” is really an ode to incest (“In a dark room we can do just what we like / You're my sister, and this love is fucking right”). There’s a hint of The Smiths’ mordant humor in the deceptively cheerful “A Teenager in Love” (“And if you made a stand / I’d stand with you ‘til the end / But you don’t need a friend when you’re / A teenager in love with Christ and heroin”).

Brevity is another subtle pleasure of The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, part of a welcome trend of indie releases adhering to the less-is-more policy. With the whole album clocking in just under 35 minutes and most songs falling in the 2:30-3:30 range, the band clearly knows better than to overstay its welcome. As it is, POBPAH’s final notes fade out at just the right time to leave listeners feeling like they’ve finished a tasty – if not terribly substantial – musical meal.

Recommended tracks: “Contender,” “Young Adult Friction,” “A Teenager in Love”