From the opening tones of We Were Always Loyal To Lost Causes, the Oakland , California band The Dandelion War gently reaches into the listener’s ears, grabs hold, and takes them on a melodic journey through their vast sonic landscape. Utilizing spacey melodies and hypnotizing rhythms, they build off of their previous record taking the music to the next level.

The music on the 10 songs beautifully melds together, creating an esoteric soundtrack reminiscent of Radiohead’s mellower work. On most of the tunes, the vocals blend with the accompanying music, becoming part of the sound rather than the focus. Listen to the tracks “Stone Castles” and “Drifters” as the haunting vocals adjust in volume along with the music to create a lush auditory wonderland that is easy to get lost in. Nice additions are a couple of spacey instrumentals, “Strange Ghosts” and “Bloom.” If there was music in outer space, I am 100 percent certain that these tunes is what it would sound like.

Highlighting the album is the track “1848.” Using a multitude of sounds, this song starts out mellow and slowly builds to a crescendo before fading into oblivion. It is the purest example of everything they do best. I must admit, The Dandelion War is new to me, and I did not know what to expect when I first hit play — however, about halfway through the first track, I was hooked.

(Deep Elm Records, PO Box 792197, Paia, HI 96779)