**1/2 Polaris

MUSIC FROM THE ADVENTURES OF PETE AND PETE

(Mezzotint)

If Miracle Legion singer Mark Mulcahy's pop instincts have evolved since his band's brilliant 1984 debut, The Backyard, he's kept it secret. There's still a bittersweet edge to his lyrics, still chiming guitars at the fore (even on moody numbers like this CD's ennui-consumed "As Usual"), still the same simple persuasive rhythms, and his breathy voice out front. Here disguised as Polaris -- the name under which they've served as house band for the Nickelodeon kids' show The Adventures of Pete and Pete for several years -- Mulcahy and company turn back the clock with the opening chords of "Hey Sandy" to deliver one of the better '80s pop albums of the '90s. "Recently" even recalls the days when Miracle Legion were laboring in Murmur-era R.E.M.'s shadow as Mulcahy's vocal phrases take distinctly Stipe-like twists. Nostalgic, yes, but there's enough Velvet Underground beneath these numbers -- especially crashers like "The Monster's Loose" -- to keep Polaris from being kids' stuff.

-- Ted Drozdowski