Taking a Dreamy Ramble With Alt-Roots-Rock Acetone

Surrendering to Acetone’s droning melodiousness, the listeners ringing the low stage at the Fold in the Silverlake Lounge on Thursday often closed their eyes and leaned into the music, swaying slightly as the band’s alt-roots-rock took them on some private trip. At times, singer-bassist Richie Lee did the same thing.

The L.A. trio of Lee, guitarist Mark Lightcap and drummer Steve Hadley found its tiny cult niche in the mid-’90s. They weathered the brief frenzy over the like-minded “No Depression” movement, and now might seem passe to some, compared to the murmuring dreaminess of such British acts as Coldplay and Travis.

But such marketplace machinations meant nothing to this audience, nor to Acetone. Its rambling, moody, hourlong set melded Velvet Underground buzz, Crazy Horse sprawl and Flying Burrito Brothers airiness with hazy ruminations that tended to be reassuring rather than neurotic. True, its new album “York Blvd.” rocks more straightforwardly in places than its three previous releases, but the band didn’t hesitate to take such tracks as “Things Are Gonna Be Alright” back into the watery realm of space-rock.

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A sprawling instrumental passage emphasized Acetone’s low-key, freak-rock capabilities, but such selections as the catchy, almost bubbly “Wonderful World” had actual commercial potential. The bluesy elements of Lightcap’s playing were enhanced by guest organist Jason Yates’ exuberant, wheezy-cool soulfulness. Indeed, Yates’ fine contributions kept the songs from sounding monochromatic, giving the proceedings an old-fashioned R&B; flavor, faintly reminiscent of the Band’s better moments.