Are they putting something freaky in the water down in Beantown these days? At first, the mind-bending psychedelia of the Major Stars seemed like an aberration. Then I hit on The Common Cold, which bent feedback into similar guitar rainbows. Now it's on to Suntan, whose three-song EP winds and crashes its way through an acid-washed palette of undiscovered colors. Ladies and gentlemen, is it coincidence or trend? Has Boston become the new San Francisco?

Suntan is the quintessential good trip, its euphoric sound buoyed by the childish tones of a Bontempi organ played by Lindsay Arth. In fact, the opening track, "L # 249747", (probably the title seemed like a good idea at the time) starts with a single, slow-building organ tone, that stands alone for more than a full minute. Then the more conventional sound of eighth-note dueling guitars kicks in, with drums joining about 30 seconds later. The organ note, nasal as a bagpipe, floats between two tones. The words, spoken more than sung, seem incidental and emo-standard, but the dense interplay of guitars, organ and drums makes it all worthwhile. Four minutes in, the piece completely changes in nature, with the two guitars challenging each other into a feedback freakout that lasts for the rest of the eight minute track.

"Bag It Up", which follows, reveals a heavy debt to Pavement, with distorted guitars battling for thick, fuzzy dominance. Dick Holdzkum's warbling voice rides a tidal wave of instrumental flotsam. Don't grab too hard at the lines he's throwing you, though; it is far better to sink into the swirling waves of sound. The final track, "Soak up the Rays", is built on a dense bedding of echoing guitars whose lines hook into and under one another.

All three tracks go on for a bit, and each could easily be split into two (or more) better-unified ideas. Still, if you look for guitars that carry you into the stratosphere, you don't have to go much further than Suntan.