Gomez Imaginatively Avoids Brit-Rock

*** GOMEZ

“Liquid Skin”

Virgin

If you’re sampled-out and synth-saturated, there are worse ways to take a break from the electronic revolution than with this Liverpool-area band’s second album. A heady, surreal pub-crawl, “Liquid Skin” makes it clear why Gomez (which plays the John Anson Ford Amphitheatre on Friday) has become one of England’s most touted young contenders.

Oblivious to almost everything Brit-rock, Gomez delivers what you might call Americana with attitude. Bluesy, folky, primarily acoustic arrangements, with periodic rock eruptions, anchor the music, which is also marked by rich, yearning melodies and vocals that cover the territory from backwoods-gruff to choirboy-plaintive.

“Liquid Skin” might feel organic and tradition-conscious, but it’s no roots album. Rather, the band bends these basics through a free-ranging imagination, twisting and distorting and juxtaposing with an exhilarating sense of freedom that recalls the late-’60s psychedelic folk-rock of Traffic.

As evocative as it can be, there’s often more ease than urgency in the performances, and the band’s sparkling, crystal-clear production seals out anything that would dirty--and animate--its grooves. For the moment, Gomez remains a band with all the tools and a fuzzy blueprint.

*

Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent). The albums are already released unless otherwise noted.