**1/2 Sleepyhead

THE BRIGHTER SHORE

(Sealed Fate)

On their new album, the East Village combo Sleepyhead propose that "nostalgia should become a criminal offense." If so, the knowing pop rock of The Brighter Shore would qualify as a high crime or at least a misdemeanor. You'd be hard-pressed to swing an independent counsel without hitting one of the abundant swipes at rock juvenilia from these Massachusetts expatriates -- spot the Who, "Blue Suede Shoes," "A Boy Named Sue," and frighteningly Cars-like synths among other petty thievery.

In their defense, I would suggest the band's retro-pop is not (as they sing) "pining for its lost innocence" but plundering the past for cheap thrills and giggles. Unlike Pavement, whose overeducated patter is mimicked by angular, slack-jawed music, Sleepyhead set their slanted and disenchanted lyrics against gooey, hand-clappy new-wave hooks. Dig the occasional tinny computer drums, sparse, early-'80s production values, and catchy koo-koo backing vocals from co-conspirator Rachel McNalley. And like any ironist worth his sneer, Chris O'Rourke's distinctive whisper croon scores some worthy couplets. "In a perfect world, things would be different/I'd have a different girl for each of my personalities/Flags would unfurl, and different nationalities" and "Just when my wounds healed/The Fifth Amendment was repealed" are two of my favorites.

-- Patrick Bryant