Wander into the home and practice space of Ames music scene mainstays Pookey Bleum, and you might hear several different music styles competing for attention. A little They Might Be Giants and XTC blares out of the stereo of vocalist and songwriter Aaron Hefley, and some Sebadoh and Neutral Milk Hotel emanates from the bedroom of guitarist Pat Fleming. “We live together, so all our music clashes,” Fleming says, comparing the atmosphere of the Pookey Bleum house to that of the record store in John Cusack’s movie “High Fidelity,” in which characters spent most of the movie arguing about music. “When I saw that movie, I thought it was just like me.” Proudly boasting his recently tallied 810-count CD collection, Fleming is the newest member of Pookey Bleum, which was formed in 1996 in Newton by Hefley, bassist Melissa Sorbo and drummer Jeremy Johnson. “I spend all my money on CDs, and they’re all mostly Pavement, Neutral Milk Hotel; I’m [also] a ’60s pop freak,” he says. Since Fleming’s arrival in August 1999, the band has gone through quite a few stylistic changes. And while their musical tastes may differ a bit, it all translates well into the band’s polished sound, which can be heard on their newest effort, “Chords a Friend Suggested.” Recorded in the basement of their Ames house, “Chords a Friend Suggested” revives the same playful sensibility and witty lyrical elements of the band’s early period, marrying it with a new passion for indie rock-style power pop. “I think the thing people like about it is that it’s really, really, really, really poppy,” Fleming says of the new album, which was released in April on the band’s own label, Bi-Fi Records. “It’s kind of Weezer-ish, and there hasn’t been anything like that in a while.” Johnson sums up the change in sound in one quick statement. “We were kind of folky when we first started,” he says. “This is harder.” Some songs were inspired by interesting experiences in Ames. The album’s main radio single, “Funny Thing About Time” took shape after an experience playing at Boheme’s open mic night. “The first time we went to open mic night at Boheme, this Mexican man came up on stage, and he was trying to tell us how to play our guitars,” Fleming explains. “He wanted us to play `La Bamba’ and started playing our instruments and breaking the strings.” “Milk,” one of the record’s other stand-out tracks, sounds like it could have come from an episode of “Sesame Street” with its plinky guitars and fun chorus of “It does a body good.” The band had been playing the song live for a long time, but they finally decided to record it for “Chords a Friend Suggested.” Over the summer, Pookey Bleum played a show at the Octagon Center for the Arts in downtown Ames, and they hope to organize future shows there as well. The band also traveled a bit to play some out-of-town shows. “We played a show in Minneapolis for a huge crowd. We’ve also driven two hours and played for 12 people,” Fleming says. Some of the group’s plans in the next year include putting together a compilation CD of Ames- and Des Moines-area artists. Bi-Fi Records will release an album by Ames solo folk artist Kathryn Musilek on Oct. 17. According to Johnson, Pookey Bleum will also put out an album called “Lo-Fi Rainbow” in early 2001. Fleming says while the band is trying to keep gaining momentum, they’re happy if they break even on sales of their CD. They’re not striving to become rock stars but merely playing for fun. “There’s no rock stars on the Bi-Fi galaxy. It’s just our best friends up there making noise with guitars, and that’s what we’re all about,” he says. “We just try to put on the best show we can.”