ALBUM REVIEW

*** That Dog, “Retreat From the Sun,” DGC. Though they’ve tamed the most unruly elements of their music, pleasantly pungent surprises crop up in this L.A. quartet’s sophomore effort. Their rich, Beatles-esque pop is threaded with unusual instrumentation, broken up by occasional bouts of punk-rock grittiness and tinged with deliberate dissonance. Even more impressive, That Dog pulls it off without lapsing into smarmy artiness. The group plays the Viper Room on Wednesday, the Alligator Lounge on Thursday and the Foothill on Friday.

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