Admittedly, concept albums can be a bit tough to get into at times, especially when the object of their desire has any relation to the literary world, so when The Green Pajamas got together to pen five songs inspired by the Irish author J. Sheridan Le Fanu, red flags probably go up in the minds of everyone who isn’t a past or present contributor to a campus literary magazine.

No matter how sketchy the premise behind The Green Pajamas’ latest EP is, however, the band’s songwriting proves direct enough to make connections even with music fans totally unfamiliar with Le Fanu’s catalog. While the author’s writings – including his classic vampire novel, Carmilla – provide the Pajamas with a foundation for the songs on this collection, the thick, rambling neo-psychedelia the band built its name on is the real thrust of this album.

All literary connections aside, In a Glass Darkly is cut from the cloth that mates psychedelic instrumental rambling to dark atmospherics while successfully breeding out much of the pretense and pomp that frequently comes with the styles. Whether PJs mix occasional washes of fuzz-box guitars with swirling keyboard melodies to catch a vibe that suggests a B-side from The Cure’s Disintegration (1989, Elektra) ("Uncle Silas"), or ditches its psychedelic trappings in favor of simple acoustic guitars ("Laura Silver Bell"), the Pajamas take on a wide swath of styles on this record. At times, however, the band’s reliance upon harpsichord-sounding melodies ("Carmilla" and "Madam Crowl’s Ghost") is a tad gimmicky; though the setting for the songs’ themes is recalled through the use of anachronistic instrumentation, there’s too much stock put in their contributions to the band.

While the five songs on this EP are solid enough to stand up without the literary background necessary to unravel some of its songs, there isn’t much that’s going to win the Pajamas any new fans. The brooding darkness of "Uncle Silas" is a good start, but the album loses momentum as the band strays farther from its psychedelic roots.