dios (malos)

East of El Segundo's refineries and beachfront ghettos, Hawthorne, California, remains an unassuming musical bastion, home to the Beach Boys, pop wunderkind Emitt Rhodes, and Greg Ginn of Black Flag. It's also the stomping grounds for dios (malos), Angelenos who share Brian Wilson's love of druggy melodies and rich vocal harmonies -- minus the bubblegum. But sticky situations are nothing new to the quirky combo: Two summers ago, cheese-metal fussbudget Ronnie James Dio presented the band with a cease-and-desist order, forcing it to change its name from Dios (Spanish for "God"), the long-standing handle under which the act's debut EP, Los Arboles, was issued. Newly rechristened with lower-case letters and a parenthetical modifier, dios (malos) has unveiled its second self-titled effort with help from Built to Spill producer Phil Ek. A soothing and spacy ode to mind candy and girls, the album displays a range of mood and innovation found on much of the Lennon-McCartney back catalogue. With God, all things are possible.