In Brief

Beck crony Steve Hanft shares some of his pal’s surreal sensibility and gift for fragmented narrative, and his Ventura-based band delivers its psychedelia with a ‘60s garage-rock punch. They also draw from Jello Biafra (the title) and Captain Beefheart (a version of his blue-collar blues “Plastic Factory”) in this rousing, slapdash, winsome vision of blowing minds and California paranoia.

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Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor) to four stars (excellent).

Hear the Music

* Excerpts from these albums and other recent releases are available on The Times’ World Wide Web site. Point your browser to: http://video.nohib.com./sound clips