Grant Lee Buffalo have always seemed like a cross between early '70s Roxy Music and early '80s R.E.M., combining campy, multilayered collages full of pop-culture imagery with dense, moody atmospherics and irresistible, jangly guitar hooks. Although songs such as the title track from 1992's Fuzzy and "Mockingbirds" from 1994's Mighty Joe Moon showed promise, the Los Angeles trio's self-consciously arty approach didn't always gel, and some of its tunes rang hollow. When guitarist and vocalist Grant Lee Phillips shifted into his hyperemotional falsetto, you were sometimes left wondering what the heck he was so worked up about.

With Copperopolis, Phillips has come up with a conceptual conceit that is rich enough to match his plaintive emoting and songwriting craftsmanship. The album's title is a nod to a copper-mining town that has fallen on hard times. Songs such as "Arousing Thunder," "The Bridge" and "Armchair" evoke the simple pleasures of small-town America, finding metaphors for life and relationships in a summer rainstorm, a barefoot walk across a wooden bridge and a beaten-up old easy chair. But these romantic visions are juxtaposed against the perverted ideals espoused by people who aren't quite as tolerant as Phillips and his bohemian band mates. In "Homespun," the singer rails against the militia movement: "Hear the drummers pound/Listen to the homespun violent sound."

Those sentiments are couched in musical settings that are oddly timeless: They're not exactly retro, but they certainly aren't tailored to fit the clichés of modern-rock radio. The focus is still on the guitar, lead vocals and sweet if sometimes off-kilter harmonies, but Phillips and the band broaden their palette to include vibraphone, violin and a cheesy synthesizer rescued from a thrift store. These add up to make Copperopolis a sometimes eccentric, sometimes precious but always rewarding place to visit. (RS 736)

JIM DEROGATIS