Fri. April 6

"Baby, did you forget to take your meds?" sings Brian Molko over and over, a concerned, desperate plaint, at the end of "Meds," the title track of Placebo's re-released CD, "Meds." It's a great, hook-packed song and there's a little joke in a band called Placebo writing it. It's kind of hard to believe this, but Placebo, a British trio, has been with us for a decade. They still seem so ... new. But, of course, Britain's thrown wave after wave of alt-rock bands at us since 1997. Placebo, which starts a North American tour at the Roxy Friday April 6, reminds us of Blur and Pulp - smart, revelatory pop songs not without a bit of self-recrimination. Placebo straddles a land between darkness and light, not unlike the Cure did. They also cover Kate Bush's sublime "Running Up That Hill" (you might have heard their version on "Bones" or "The O.C.") Want another sign of integrity? They've got R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe sharing vocals on "Broken Promise." Said Molto: "I think over time we've developed a reptutation for being quite complicatedand I think we enjoyed the freedom of going back to basics on this record. We allowed space for the songwriting to shine through rather than show up how clever we were and how good we've gotten at using a studio. We were going for simplicity rahter than elaboration." Simplicity, maybe. Simple-mindedness, no. Eveline opens. Doors at 7 p.m. Tickets: $25.

279 Tremont St., 617-738-7699 roxyplex.com