BUZZ BANDS

The Lovetones flip the blacklight on for their throwback psychedelia.

Modern bent on '60s sounds

The gentle jangle and orchestral swoon on the Lovetones' third album, "Axiom," might project the aura of the '60s, but the Australian quartet's songwriter, Matt Tow, keeps his psychedelia forward-looking.

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"It's important not to forget the past, but what we're trying to do is take the spirit of that era and make it our own," Tow says. "The last album was more of a rock record; now, because of the instrumentation we used, the music is a lot more textured."

Less swaggering than 2005's "Meditations," the new album (out Tuesday on Tee Pee Records, home to the Brian Jonestown Massacre) was recorded partly at the Sydney Opera House — where the band's engineer works as an assistant — and partly in the home studio of Rob Campanella of L.A. kindred spirits the Quarter After.

In fact, the bucolic single "Wintertime in Hollywood" was inspired by a trip to the U.S. early last year. "You're on the road and away from loved ones, and you find inspiration in that," Tow says. The quartet plays Monday at Safari Sam's.

Streams: www.myspace.com/thelovetones



Fast forward

Touts: English quintet the Maccabees hit the Troubadour on Friday in support of their debut, "Colour It In." ... Lavender Diamond, with Devon Williams having replaced Jeffrey Rosenberg on guitar, headlines the Troubadour on Saturday.... Also Saturday: the Fratellis at the Avalon; Juan Maclean at the Echoplex; and the Rosebuds at Spaceland.

— Kevin Bronson