Coming from Paul D'Amour -- the former bass player of the brooding metal outfit Tool -- Lusk is exactly what fans might least expect. D'Amour teams up with Zaum's Chris Pitman to create an album of surprisingly fresh neo-psychedelia, full of lushly orchestrated overtones, harmonized vocals and enough spaced-out interludes to avoid being chucked in with Oasis' ilk. Think early Pink Floyd (Ummagumma, Meddle) meets later Beatles (Sergeant Pepper's) meets Brian Eno. From the Leslie-warbled pianos in the title track to the trip-rockin' "Hotel Family Affair," "Free Mars" is retro without being a rehash. Special treats include appearances from the folks in Tool, Failure and the Flaming Lips, as well as the melancholy ballad "My Good Fishwife" and the semi-hidden final track, "Blair's Spiders," wherein D'Amour and Pitman toy with 15 minutes of silence followed by random paranoid soundbites. Careful with that axe, Eugene, indeed.

-- Beth Winegarner

This article was originally published in the San Francisco Chronicle.