Leary

When an experimental band names itself Leary, certain expectations arise. However, anyone who decides to listen to this sextet’s album, Falling Into Space, under the influence of any hallucinogenic substance might be in for a rough trip, especially if he or she doesn’t abandon ship before the potentially head-exploding, pulsing sound effects at the end of “Thursday Eve.” However, the utterly enjoyable first eight minutes of this song prove fans don’t have to supplement their listening experience with chemical substances. Singers drift in and out of such songs as “Good Times” and “Falling into Place,” but the voices of Dean Curtis and Andy Gonering are so breezy and unobtrusive that they don’t make the jams into tangible songs as vocals usually do. In this case, that’s a good thing. Leary creates an intricate soundscape using samples, keys, guitar synth, and countless eerie noises, and trying to sneak a poppy melody into the mix would spoil the stew. The lush, spacy 16-minute epic, “Zeta Reticuli,” might be the group’s tour de force, but “Illuminato,” the funky 11-minute tune that follows it, promises to be the crowd favorite in a live setting. After a diverse collection of lengthy tunes, Leary ends with “Oxyosymphonic,” which sounds like one of King Crimson’s indecipherable early-period midsong intervals until it suddenly ends right when it seemed to be reaching a climax. It’s a fitting conclusion to the band’s adventurous work, one that suggests Leary stopped only because of the time constraints of the recorded format and that such songs might take off in an infinite number of directions when the group takes the stage.