THE LONELY H "Hair" The Control Group

THE LONELY H"Hair"The Control Group

"THERE'S A STORM inside my head," announces Mark Fredson in "Just Don't Know," the first song on the Lonely H's "Hair." The Washington state quintet spends the rest of its second album trying to evoke that interior tempest. Piano duels with guitar while Fredson's vocals strive and strain, as if the band were auditioning for a rock opera composed around the time of, well, "Hair." One song, "Say Your Prayers," even opens with an instrumental fanfare that recalls Yes's biggest '70s hit, "Roundabout."

Unlike most '70s progressive rock groups, however, the Lonely H doesn't indulge in lengthy solos or faux-classical embellishment. The half-nautical, half-psychedelic "Captain Merrywell" adds a horn section, but usually the band keeps things simple. The driving title track, for example, is as direct as its "You're not making no sense/It's all nonsense" chant. That song shows the Lonely H at its best, using modest means to elicit large effects.

-- Mark Jenkins

Appearing Tuesday at DC9 (202-483-5000,http://www.dcnine.com). Doors open at 8:30 p.m.