Green on Red is the latest band to emerge from the Paisley Underground – the loose collective of like-minded musicians who in the past year have filled L.A. clubs with various brands of Sixties-style garage psychedelia. Gravity Talks, Green on Red's debut album, is full of Doors-like keyboard passages, rambling tunes and dollops of feedback. But, above all, the record is a toast to the time-honored rock & roll spirit of "let's get loose and bash out a song."

Propelled by Dan Stuart's taut, undisciplined snarl and underscored by Chris Cacavas' jangling keyboards, Green on Red's sound can, at times, be affected and grating. But more often than not, Cacavas provides the necessary sweetening to this raw, emotional music so reminiscent of many a Rolling Stones pile driver, of the ragged momentum of the Velvet Underground's extended workouts and of Dream Syndicate's brazen indulgences.

From the naively uplifting "That's What You're Here For" and the surprisingly pretty "Brave Generation" to the roaring pulse of "Snake Bit" and "Abigail's Ghost," Stuart comes across as a likable loudmouth who means business as he wrestles with his problems over a few beers. "I saw Ahab sitting in a bar/He was staring at a woman with a white gown on," he sings at one point. The literary reference isn't typical, but the setting is, because for Stuart and his characters, most quests take place in barrooms. So have a drink, listen up, and don't worry if you're not wearing paisley. (RS 410)

STEVE POND