Alice DellalJack PenateJack Penate, Miike Snow at Neumos, 8 p.m., $12 advIt’s not all that often that you get to hear a truly great pop record these days. So much is prefabricated commodity, practically (or literally) written with cross-merchandising possibilities in mind. What’s so remarkable about Everything is New, the latest album from British pop savant Jack Penate, is that it manages to revel in the tropes of radio-friendly pop music without catering to them. It’s an album that manages to be subtly subversive through its very listenability. Penate has a keen ear for melody and an impeccable rhythmic sensibility, and uses those gifts to extract the best fractions of the radio dial and turn them into something worth listening to. Whether it’s the afropop inflected “Tonight’s Today” or the ebullient and danceable blue eyed soul of “Be the One”, Penate injects his chosen material at once with populist production, highly intelligent phrasing and thoughtful musical touchstones. It’s not the best record to come out this year, but it’s certainly one of the best ones you might actually hear on commercial radio. If Penate can raise the general level of sonic discourse by co-opting what most turn into the lowest common denominator, he’s a hero in my book. NICHOLAS HALLToubab Krewe at the Tractor Tavern, 9 p.m., $10It’s one thing to sprinkle ethnic influences into your sound. It’s another altogether to spend years studying under master musicians in their home countries. The latter shows a level of dedication that is all but unheard of in rock music, but that didn’t stop Asheville’s Toubab Krewe from spending years developing their sound before even becoming a band. Every single member of the Krewe has studied music in Mali, Guinea, and the Ivory Coast – on repeated visits. Even more exceptional is the group’s sense of honesty: Purism, apparently, is not the goal, and while the Krewe’s members clearly have respect for the various traditions they’ve studied, they don’t overshoot the mark and fall prey to reverence. There is, after all, another tradition they have equal respect for, and it’s called rock music. As such, they make no bones about what they are: a hybrid, but a guitar-based rock band nonetheless. And because they took their time blending the Mandinka and rock elements, the two forms sound perfectly natural together – hardly the work of wide-eyed collegians over-eager to fetishize or glorify other cultures. And, sure, the band jams, but to call it a “jam band” would be a disservice when it’s more like a true musical cross-breed. SABY REYES-KULKARNI