**1/2 Pure

GENERATION SIX-PACK

(Mammoth)

Whatever you're looking for in a good pop band, chances are Pure have it. Guitarist Todd Simko is well versed in churning riffs, and singer/guitarist Jordy Birch has no problems turning phrases and sticking them in your ear. The vocal range is limited, but the band manage to conjure some interesting moments, with an acoustic ramble ("Drugs, Guns and Booze"), a carnival-esque instrumental ("Wagner's Show"), and a Stonesy blooze rant ("The Tip").

Pure also seem content to leave the introspection and grand revelations to their brooding Seattle neighbors. Disclosure doesn't get much more detailed than "I'm into soap operas/I'm into pink flamingos/Just about anything, man." (Although the confessional "Nobody Knows I'm New Wave" openly confronts an ugly truth: "In my closet there's a bunch of records/Flock of Seagulls and Iron Maiden.") The whole pop-band thing seems to come natural to Pure -- they give the distinct impression that they'd have real trouble securing gainful employment outside the loose structure of a rock-and-roll outfit. Fortunately, Generation Six-Pack is evidence that they don't really need day jobs.

-- Michael McCrary