Daydream Machine, The Show Must Not Go On (Picture in My Ear)

[PSYCH] Portland psych-rock outfit Daydream Machine's The Show Must Not Go On employs the same unearthly reference points as the band's excellent debut, Twin Idols, but in a much more sedate vein. For one, Jsun Adams employs a deadpan vocal register almost exclusively, as if the recording session caught him with a head cold. The Show Must Not Go On sits comfortably in a well-worn sonic territory previously carved out by the Dandy Warhols and other druggy-chic acts from the mid-'90s, spending a majority of its length in a stoned, midtempo mode more apt to wind down a raucous night than amp you up for it. "Modern Prophecy" features a weary, just-woke-up Adams groaning seemingly improvised rhymes over a woozy groove of looping bass and synth lines. The title track makes better use of the same designs, with a brighter, Velvet Underground-style riff and a simplistic melody overdubbed in melodica and trumpet, while swathing washes cascade in the background. "Falls Out of View" harks back to the comfortable cush of Jesus and Mary Chain in repose, and ushers in a solid back half that would have been better suited for the A-side.

SEE IT: Daydream Machine plays Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi Ave., with Souvenir Driver and Melt, on Tuesday, March 21. 9 pm. $5. 21+.