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Nibble at the skin of this 27-minute EP from the Denver freak-poppers and you’re unlikely to be disappointed – in many ways the seven proper songs maintain the quartet’s high standard of crackling singalongs with a wiggy undercurrent. Gnaw to the core, however, and there are problems.

First of all, there’s the goofy conceptual conceit that continues to malign nearly every Elephant 6 (the musical collective that the Apples inhabit along with Olivia Tremor Control and several other whimsical, psychedelically-minded groups) release. The “story” – a young girl’s rainy afternoon idyll – is harmless in itself, but the short, elaborately-titled toy piano overtures that pop up between the songs (a concession to the concept, I guess) only serve to distract from the disc’s flow. Thus, the number of tracks jumps to a deceptive 15 and the price bloats to almost that of a full-length album. A minor quibble, maybe, but a less-is-more ethic might’ve produced a stronger, more affordable package. The Apples’ strength isn’t in experimental asides – it’s in the concise zip of their best pop songs.

And these songs are pretty swell, if purposely derivative. The bulk of Reverie finds head Apple Robert Schneider taking a deep bow to his acknowledged touchstones: “The Shiney Sea” is a Pink Floyd pastiche, grafting a sliver of Syd’s lysergic lyricism onto the strummy lope of “Fearless” or “Wish You Were Here”. “Ruby” and “Ruby, Tell Me” salute the Beach Boys’ underrated Friends/20/20 period (“Ruby, Tell Me” being a shameless dead ringer for “Meant For You”). And “Strawberryfire,” well, don’t all raise your hands at once – Beatles. The song swirls and dips in all the right places, and from a lesser band would be no mean feat, but for someone as talented as Schneider to churn out a just-OK “Strawberry Fields Forever” rewrite seems rather pointless.

With its piano rollick and fat fuzz bass, “Ruby” is a thumping pop smash, easily the best thing here. The band have gotten more adept at laying the ballsy intensity of their live set to wax, and Schneider’s affable vocals have gained a complimentary hoarse enthusiasm. Drummer Hilarie Sidney’s customary one offering, “Questions And Answers,” is gleefully pleasant and nearly as rocking.

If Reverie contains a step forward, it’s “Benefits Of Lying (With Your Friend).” While the lyrics resemble the sickly-sweet minutia that Brian Wilson began to trade in after he went nuts, the track is laden with nifty countermelodies and undulating waves of backing vocals that demand close listening. If the Apples can set that sort of sophistication next to their burgeoning punchiness (and unsubscribe to the fairy-tale frippery that makes many E6 bands tough to take seriously), their next real LP should be a rare treat.