Griffin’s Western Electric Gets Trippy With a Twang

Post-punk Los Angeles had no greater champion of country-flavored rock than SidGriffin. As leader of the now-defunct Long Ryders, Griffin made music that was hook-filled and earthy. He even wrote a book on the late country-rock deity Gram Parsons, whose songs of heartbreak still echo in all of Griffin’s music.

At the Culver Saloon on Thursday, Griffin unveiled his newest band, Western Electric, which shares much with his earlier country-rock obsessions. But this time he’s added electronic beats and dreamy pedal steel guitar, blending the organic with the postmodern. The result is a sound that edges surprisingly close to trip-hop, or the twangier side of a Daniel Lanois production.

It’s a concept that comes across most clearly on Western Electric’s self-titled debut album (on Gadfly Records). During the quartet’s loose, casual performance on Thursday, much of that sonic layering was lost, robbing some songs of focus and fire.

But elsewhere, the band tapped its deepest roots to arrive at a sound worthy of classic Byrds.

To that end, Griffin picked up a mandolin for a soulful take on the Byrds’ “He Was a Friend of Mine.”

But the band was at its best when stretching out for an instrumental passage, finding warmth, not distance in its postmodern blend.

While the night’s focus was on new directions, the band was joined during the encore by former Long Ryders drummer Greg Sowders for a pair of old songs, including a rave-up of Mel Tillis’ “(Sweet) Mental Revenge.”

More proof that roots still matter.