The Tambourine Club

“Lo-Fi Feeling”

Kansas City’s Tambourine Club is the creation of one Bryan Lamanno, a multi-instrumentalist whose debut EP, “Lo-Fi Feeling,” is free for the downloading.

Though Lamanno gigs and has recorded with collaborators on other projects, the dreamy psychedelic pop “Lo-Fi” is a solo affair. “I could never get the right sound and feeling I was happy with, so, as the saying goes, did it on my own 4 this one,” he told me via email.

That personal approach shines clearly in the record’s intimate, personal vibe. Its five tracks are very much interlocking pieces of a singular statement, and they work together as a cohesive 20 minutes.

“Lo-Fi” begins with a spare introduction consisting of simple electric organ chords and multi-tracked vocals, muffled and echoed into an incomprehensible wash of sound. It soon morphs into “Only in the Night,” augmenting the minimal arrangement with ticking electronic drums and a twanging cowboy guitar, later joined by a deep, chiming celesta. The effect is almost hypnotic, with the percussive “tick tick tick” as a harmonious counterpoint to the organic nature of the vocals and other instrumentation.

“Dry Your Eyes” is built on a foundation of beefier, more realistic drums accompanied by acoustic guitar and a thick, muscular Matthew Sweet-ish electric guitar solo (thankfully without Sweet’s penchant for self-overindulgence). Its simple melody grows addictive on multiple listens.

“Throw Me a Line” is a left curve, with a huge distorted bass line set atop a shuffling sampled drum loop (think the Alanis ’90s) and a quiet tremolo guitar pealing through the sludge. And is that a sitar rounding out the psychedelic/trip-hop mashup? Whatever it is, it works to pull the track into the same realm as the rest of the EP.

“I Do” is the most stripped-down song in the bunch, with a lone upright piano plunking out one note at a time under another sluice of Lamanno’s spacey vocals. What it’s about is anyone’s guess. The effects obscure most of the consonants — but that’s hardly a problem.

“Lo-Fi Feeling” combines Mazzy Star’s quiet moodiness with the fuzzy noise of the Secret Machines’ ’60s references. It ranges from quietly spooky to gently rousing without abandoning its identity, making for good headphone listening.