Steve Wynn, “Melting in the Dark,” Zero Hour. (***)

The ex-Dream Syndicate leader drifts back to crackling, ‘60s-style grunge on some tracks, where ringing pop melodies emerge from a sometimes chaotic din. Still reeling from his first dose of the Velvet Underground, the singer-guitarist even adopts Lou Reed’s flat ironic delivery for “The Angels.” But it’s at the midway point that Wynn’s seething tales of bad love catch fire.

*

Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent).