EL VY is a low-key collaboration between two high-minded guys: Matt Berninger (of indie-rock pinups The National) and multi-instrumentalist Brent Knopf (of Ramona Falls and the proggy Portland crew Menomena). A moody, funky (and subtly funny) album, Return to the Moon charts a serpentine journey through the hazy backyard barbecues and surreal afterparties of Berninger’s recently adopted Los Angeles. “Went to bed and woke up inside another man’s head/Nobody noticed,” Berninger mumbles on the title track—it’s a dry-witted punch line on an album that's full of them.