With a sound influenced by early David Bowie and the Rolling Stones, as well as latter-day disciples like Suede and the Verve, Seattle quartet the Purrs already owe a musical debt to the UK. Now, with their new, self-titled album, the band join the ranks of another crew of British musicians. Like the Beatles, OMD, and Robbie Williams before, the Purrs' earliest work has been repackaged in one handy volume to introduce them to mass American audiences.

The Purrs (on local imprint Sarathan Records) features two songs from the group's 2004 EP No Particular Bar, No Particular Town and seven from last year's The Dreams Our Stuff Is Made Of, including the KEXP favorites "She's Gone," "Loose Talk," and "Taste of Monday."

"A lot of tracks off the last album seemed to connect with listeners," says bassist and singer Jima, apropos of this course of action. "I thought it would make more sense, now that we got picked up by a label, to use their marketing machinations to get this music out to more people." Hardcore fans shouldn't lament, though. The live set list draws equally on new, unreleased songs and old favorites.

For now, the Purrs are excited about testing their wares—and stamina—via another classic marketing strategy: extensive touring. "I'm looking forward to seeing how the band functions as a unit," Jima concludes. "Just playing Seattle and Portland isn't the same test of your psychological abilities as sitting together, in a small metal box, for hours on end, every day... smelling each other."