Eric Layer was born in San Francisco and has an affinity for “The Summer of Love,” which was 1967 for those of you too young to remember. For those of you who don’t give a shit, let me remind you that it was a period of bohemian nirvana where Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters threw cool parties with free flowing sex and drugs; and bands like the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane and Quicksilver Messenger Service were formed. Though Layer missed that groovy scene, he personally experienced the Seattle grunge period while performing with a “punk rock theatre troupe” called Piece of Meat Theatre. Fresh from recent touring, Layer has just released his first solo album called fall. With the exception of percussion, flute and backing vocals, he has played all the other instruments for this effort, which saves a lot of money and the aggravation working with musicians you may not like.

The title track sounds like what might happen if Simon and Garfunkel morphed with a low-fi indie band. Though the musicianship on this one ain’t stellar, the vocals are good and the song has an earnest ethereal charm. “Lost Dog” is more tightly played, is spooky cool and serves up guitar work reminiscent of Jorma Kaukonen. The simple lyrics are creatively phrased and are a metaphor for the loss of freedom that follows in committed relationships. “Lovely Day” sounds like Radiohead gargling with Ripple wine and is peppered with slippery slide guitar. The waltzing 6/4 vibe on “Karina” perfectly matches the drug themed lyrics and sounds like something Arthur Lee and Love might have performed in 1969.

Layer does a great job creating modern psychedelic rock with first rate arrangements, good dynamics and lyrics that offer interesting ambiguity rather being bland after thoughts. With the help of a few friends, he has avoided the trap of sounding like a solo artist and succeeded in creating the cohesion of band that has been playing together for several years. Go to Layer’s MySpace if you would like to sample some of his music or check out his new album at cdbaby.com. For my money, there wasn’t one song on his disc that I didn’t like.