Take Back the Universe and Give Me Yesterday

Creeper Lagoon has been San Francisco’s alleged next big thing since e-mail was an extravagance. Their DreamWorks debut, Take Back the Universe and Give Me Yesterday, isn’t quite heavenly, but it glides plenty high above the alt-rock wasteland. The formula: bold indie-pop melodies with judicious dashes of dream pop and electronica, set to big-money production (ex-Talking Head Jerry Harrison lent one of several sets of hands). Maintaining idiosyncrasies while playing to convention is a neat trick.