True children of borderlandia, all four musicians who make up Love and the Skull were raised between the post-u/dys-topian sprawl of Tijuana and the arid folds of the Whale’s Vagina.

But their debut LP, It’s In Your Mind (available on Spotify soon), isn’t too concerned with sounding like it calls either side of the wall home.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qG6v1Tb0Psc

“I want to bring back the glory days of Britpop,” frontman Charlie Quest told me one Modelo-soaked night at Moustache Bar.

Happy-go-lucky and even more happily preoccupied with an archetypal urge for rock and roll romance, It’s In Your Mind is a surefire soundtrack to getting pumped up for a night on the town, a spur-of-the-moment road trip, or – as the video for single “Be My Girl” suggests – just drinking a few beers and goofing off at the carnival with your buddies.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkgwSQ3MZ8Y

With members now living in Chula Vista and Tijuana, Love and the Skull got their start last December and features members of Celofán, Ambiente, Ibi ego, the Electric Healing Sound, the Maze, and La Noise.

Find them tonight (Friday, September 20) at The Merrow (1271 University Ave. - Hillcrest) with Clear Black and Hocus - five bones.

http://www.sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/sep/20/53526/