**1/2 Fluorescein

HIGH CONTRAST COMEDOWN

(DGC)

The post-Beck cognoscenti know Silver Lake's place on the rock-and-roll map -- the East Hollywood neighborhood is Southern California's latest pop-rock breeding ground. It's an incestuous kind of scene, in the healthiest sense, and Fluorescein's four members have all done time in various Silver Lake groups.

On High Contrast Comedown, former Lutefisk bassist Greg Mora steps out of the sideman's role to celebrate the primacy of guitar on his own terms. It's a schizophrenic effort that both revels in and rejects LA excess, but at least Mora's musical sensibilities are solid. This native Angeleno song craftsman worships the gentle, trippy Pet Sounds-era Beach Boys and trad rock structures even as he playfully deconstructs them. "Cathy's on Crank" is too heavy-handed to match "Jane Says." But the best tracks on High Contrast Comedown -- "Rub (Hold It All)," "The Goldfist Rising," and "Crazy Eights" -- mix colorful visions of madness with compelling kaleidoscopic rock textures.

-- Mark Woodlief