POP WILL EAT ITSELF : “This Is the Day, This Is the Hour, This Is This.” RCA *** 1/2

Pop is also wont to regurgitate itself. That’s the case with this sampling-happy young British quartet, which has transmuted from a pack of ragged post-punk “grebo” rockers to ragged but purposeful post-modern b-boys. But PWEI has managed to devour the best elements of hip-hop, metal and punk and come forth with something ahead of just about anything going on in any of those fields. Compared to the best moments of this U.S. debut, similar hybrids by the Beastie Boys and Anthrax seem like self-conscious exercises. There’s nothing stilted about “Wise Up Sucker”--which somehow manages to combine metal sampling with a terrific, propulsive hook and even a legitimate look at love’s confusion. Or “Not Now James, We’re Busy,” which mocks hip-hop’s propensity for stealing . . . er, borrowing . . . James Brown riffs. Like De La Soul’s similarly inventive and joyful debut, this tends to drag a bit through the second half. But when it hits, it hits high.