Better a mellow drunk than an abusive one, to say the least, and Leigh Gregory's musical project certainly doesn't sound like it's about to bust one's head open. Based in San Francisco, Mellow Drunk was initially practically a one-man project by Gregory, a veteran of a variety of groups for numerous years before that, including Connecticut's Dispossessed in the late '80s and San Diego's Miles From Nowhere in the early '90s. Drawing on a variety of darker psych forebears old and young -- most notably the Church, which he covered for a tribute album -- Gregory first put together a version of the band in Minnesota, where the group's debut, Always Be Drunk, was recorded over 18 months. Gregory relocated to the Bay Area and re-created the group with a variety of well-known local performers, including Imajinary Friends/Smallstone member Rick Maymi and Dora Flood's keyboardist and drummer, Steven Cavoretto, and Sean DeGaetano. Bassist Alexander Mann fills out the lineup. ~ Ned Raggett