Don't let the trippy, blissful, sunshine-on-wax vibe of "I Heart California," the opening track on Admiral Radley's debut album of the same name, fool you: Jason Lytle is still pretty bummed. The Grandaddy frontman has made a career writing about down-and-out protagonists (some of whom are robots) skulking their way through unfortunate encounters with other humans and the daily indignities of modern life. Of course, despite his world view, that has never stopped him from crafting the types of sing-songy melodies lunatics mumble while the world collapses.

Such is the case on I Heart California, the first album from Lytle's new band that also features fellow Grandaddy member Aaron Burtch as well as Ariana Murray and Aaron Espinoza from fellow southern California mope rockers Earlimart. The album is a buffet of druggy guitar and aching melodies. While the hooks err more on the side of Earlimart's latter day work (they definitely match the strength of the hooks on 2007's overlooked Mentor Tormentor), the genre-bending schizophrenia is pure Lytle. The title track is an Elton John-piano-fueled '70s AM radio relic, while "Sunburn Kids" turns MGMT's freaked-out studio funk on its ear and "Lonesome Co." manifests as a… read more »