**1/2 Euphonic

NEAPOLITAN

(Self-Released)

Boston-based Euphonic play a brand of organ-driven rock-funk that gives their music a more upbeat atmosphere than the surreal, vocabulary-rich lyric sheet might suggest. Although the words are pointed à la Cap'n Jazz or early Modest Mouse, the music grooves like moe., and the band glide from biting lyrics into spacy jams the most diehard hippie could appreciate. On "Parachute," in particular, the lyrics are spit and spoken but Doug Marttila's organ and Brian K. McGuire's note-bending bass take the edge off.

A sense of satire comes through in take-the-country-back-from-the-Establishment lines like "the red-nosed men on the high royal hill are coming to conclusions but they must not write one tasty page of this story." And "Precognition," the album highlight, embodies Euphonic's tongue-in-cheek paranoia, as vocalist Patrick Nelson croons "Do you really want to know the future?" over samples of instructions in clairvoyancy from The Basic Principles of Kreskin's ESP. Like the rest of Neapolitan, "Precognition" is also pocked with little bits of Ted Pyne's melodic guitarwork -- which may make you wonder what would happen if Marttila gave the keys a rest for a few minutes.

-- Kristen O'Toole