story by Don Bartlett

I'm supposed to say it, that I know. I probably even need to say it. But somehow it just grates on my nerves, like I'm a bit player in some sort of disconcerting marketing pitch, designed by a cocaine sniffing PR bastard that regularly employs such words as "hook", "face time" and "photo-op".

Jennifer Gentle is not a girl.

There. Now that I have that out of the way, I'll move on to the next question: What the hell is that name all about? As it turns out, it isn't a vile marketing ploy at all. The name Jennifer Gentle was chosen by singer/guitarist Marco Fasolo and drummer Alessio Gastaldello from the lyrics to an obscure song by Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd. So much for my whip smart instincts, eh? As it turns out, that is just the beginning of the Italian duo's fascination with the quixotic '60s singer.

GASTALDELLO'S INNER VIEW "In the beginning of the recording sessions there wasn't a plan, but by playing we decided to build it like circles in the water."

The band has embarked on their first tour of America in support of their album Valende, which was released earlier this year on Seattle's Sub Pop imprint. The record is a fascinating, if somewhat exhausting, journey to both poles of the psych-pop spectrum. There are moments of pure pop exuberance, like the single "I Do Dream You" which survives Fasolo's playfully nasal vocals and odd sound effects on the strength of its hooky guitar part. There are also sparse, haunting moments, like both of the "Garden" tracks, which bookend the least explicable part of the album: the sprawling "Hessesopoa". Sandwiched between these subtle beauties, "Hessesopoa" aspires to the freakiest of freak-out psychedelia, and the ambition is admirable.

As Gastaldello says, "We wanted to create a symmetry from the external pop songs to the deconstructed core." In this case, however, the sound comes closer to a pack of wild dingoes on acid descending savagely on a 300-member Doors cover band. Can't win 'em all, eh?

That track aside, the diversity of the record was a happy accident of sorts. In an e-mail from their first South By Southwest appearance, Gastaldello explains: "From the beginning of the Jennifer Gentle story, we wanted to play both pop and experimental stuff. In this album, after having recorded four or five tracks we realized that there was a journey in it and we followed it," he says. "In the beginning of the recording sessions there wasn't a plan, but by playing we decided to build it like circles in the water."

Taken as whole, said circles leave you with a quirky ode to the Barrett-inspired wing of late '60s psych music that largely hits the mark it's aiming at. The band successfully toes the line between mysterious dream and surreal nightmare and never once lets you know which side you're likely to end up on. Fans of Barrett or The 13th Floor Elevators will find a lot to like here, with healthy doses of whimsical experimentation tying the package together.

That said, Jennifer Gentle isn't a show you should bring Jenny from accounting to, because she'll likely think you're either completely mad or a serious dope fiend. She may even be right, but that's not for me to say. Regardless, neither one of you is getting what you want, and such talk around the office can be dangerous. Do yourself a favor. Dig around in your Blackberry for those old college friends, the ones who still close down 4 a.m. bars on a Tuesday and can name at least three tracks from Piper At The Gates of Dawn, and bring them instead. Everyone wins, even Jenny.

Jennifer Gentle :: with Dead Meadow :: Empty Bottle :: April 1.

Listen to an mp3 of Jennifer Gentle's "I Do Dream You," courtesy of Better Propaganda.