Now this year, Be demonstrates that the British influence has forever left its mark on America, but the results don't have to smack of reheated porridge. The Dallas quartet's latest, Thistupidream, merges tried-and-true styles from across the pond with Collegetown, USA, dorm-room innocence. Tracks like "Confession" bring back the pop polish of the Monkees and wring it through a distortion pedal, while "The Corporal's Daughter" draws light to the band's vivid harmonies, which bounce through layers of chord progressions and airy moments that tingle at times and jingle at others. A solo cymbal picks up bass and guitar passengers along the title track's way, arriving at a place where the pop is far from flat and the imagery is at least three-dimensional. It has taken Be nearly four years to release the follow-up to its debut, Avalanche, but this was clearly time well spent.