In Brief

The modest ambitions of Johnston’s crisp but plain guitar-pop are endearing amid the post-grunge, pre-millennium whirlwind--though misleading. On his fifth album there’s poetry in his aching, melodic probings into the X-files of the heart and wandering souls. But producer Danny Kortchmar fails to add distinction--what happened to all the invention he displayed on Don Henley’s classic “Building the Perfect Beast”?

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Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor) to four stars (excellent).

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Hear the Music

* Excerpts from these albums and other recent releases are available on The Times’ World Wide Web site. Point your browser to: https://www.latimes.com/soundclips