It might be the fact that Grady Runyan’s engaged with so many different bands, in addition to running a record store, that over the course of releases by Liquorball, Monoshock and now the Bad Trips, there’s a healthy range of good and bad. While Liquorball trucked in seemingly improvised psych rave ups, more frequently winding up on the wobbly side of things as opposed to the sturdiness of Monoshock’s rage, the Bad Trips are somewhere in between. And maybe that’s what prompted Runyan to sort out another opportunity for performance.

Introducing electronics so prominently in his work, Runyan ran the risk of ostracizing some of his collected listening audience. The fact that most, if not all, of them are stoned probably doesn’t hurt much. But the Bad Trips second long player, Open, doesn’t serve up the same sort of aggressive rock stuffs most would expect. Using electronics as these song’s melodic figure winds up working to a good degree even as the volume’s noticeably slackened and its accompanying intensity is, for all intents and purposes, absent.

Either way, efforts like the album’s second track, “Location Four,” are weird enough to sate just about anyone who enjoyed Runyan’s other work. The song’s dramatically different than earlier stuff, but still sports enough of what might pass as psychedelics to make up for the toned down aesthetic. If listeners consider Monoshock this guy’s crowning achievement, it might be a bit of a disappointment that there aren’t any anthems here. But the ambience makes up for it.