Six Eye Columbia

S.F.-based melancholic rock band Six Eye Columbia orbits around songwriter Josh Pollock, who's garnered quite a pedigree in recent years. A current member of enduring prog co-op Gong, Pollock has played with Japanese luminaries Acid Mothers Temple and Ruins, moonlighted with Pansy Division and punk patriarch Gary Floyd, and starred in a musical about song-poem meister Rodd Keith. Obviously, he is a gifted musician, but 6EC is his compositional showcase. Judy at Carnegie Hall -- the band's follow-up to 2001's A Million Six -- refines that album's well-crafted indie mélange. Judysports a mere eight tracks, but with multipart songs like "New Age Teen" clocking in around 10 minutes, these pop epics add up to a satisfyingly complete album. That one of the tracks on Judyis titled "Teenage Fanclub and You" and parallels that Scottish band's work speaks volumes; in addition to Fanclub, Six Eye Columbia channels Big Star, Guided by Voices, Nick Cave, Tom Waits, and Red House Painters (whose bassist, Jerry Vessel, also plays in Six Eye). Achingly beautiful and musically kaleidoscopic, Judy at Carnegie Hallis a subtly infectious, densely layered, and brilliantly well-produced piece of work.