Stockton, California (population: 233,600; elevation: 14 feet) has more to offer than drive- by shootings and carjackings. I, myself, became part of its population during the year of our nation's bicentennial. It's also the homebase of musicmakers like Chris Isaak, Pavement, and the Plantman himself, Gary Young. And among my high school's alumni is Grant Lee Phillips, frontman of Grant Lee Buffalo.

Grant Lee Buffalo have always excelled at blending the old with the new by combining vintage instruments with contemporary arrangements. And Jubilee is no exception; it's steeped in nostalgia from beginning to end with the lyrical tales of opium dens, gold mines, and gambling. On the title track, guest Jon Brion plays a tack piano that sounds straight out of a 19th- centur western saloon, as does Phil Parlapiano's accordion on "Everybody Needs A Little Sanctuary."

The album marks the band's first project sans producer and bassist Paul Kimble, who helped create the vivid, masterful arrangements that underscored the band's first three efforts. Some common threads connect the band's past work with the present, but Jubilee has a harder, louder, more rock- oriented sound than its predecessors thanks in part to new producer Paul Fox, who's worked with everyone from They Might Be Giants and the Sugarcubes to XTC and Yes. The lyrics are pleasant but not nearly as evocative as those on their Fuzzy debut or 1996's Copperopolis. It's a step in a new direction for Grant Lee Buffalo, but not so unfamiliar as to prevent one from partaking in a jubilee in Buffalo country.

-Susan Moll