Power Pop ‘n’ Punk From Those Pre-Platinum Days : NIRVANA “Incesticide”, <i> DGC</i> * * *

If it weren’t just a motley collection of outtakes, demos, B-sides, made-for-radio recordings, alternate versions and assorted goofs designed to kill time between real projects, “Incesticide” might be mistaken for the true follow-up to Nirvana’s smash “Nevermind,” if not the indispensable punk-rock album of the year. All told, you could make a worse faux pas .

The first half, where most of the early-’90s material is concentrated, is a virtual power-pop primer--with renditions of two Vaselines songs so instantly catchy they’re almost politically incorrect for the genre; a festive double-time remake of the unsavory rape drama “Polly,” dubbed the “New Wave” version; the third (and best) released version of the never-on-LP funny feminist tract “Been a Son,” a distorted Devo tune and some nifty Sub Pop leftovers.

The second half, which has slightly less repeat value, ventures further back into Nirvana’s early years--those distant late ‘80s--when Kurt Cobain’s developing pop sense took a back seat to heavy-riffing gags like “Aero Zeppelin” and unmelodious screech-fests like “Hairspray Queen,” veritable pranks of demos that replay better than most Seattle bands’ most-polished grunge.