In between playing Grand Funk Railroad–inspired rock in the San Francisco trio Mensclub and blasting proggy proto-metal with Bay Area skate-hessians Hot Lunch, Aaron Nudelman recorded a solo album for Pavement guitarist Scott Kannberg’s label Amazing Grease. Monster in the Mirror surprised Nudelman’s fans with a stylistic departure. Rather than sticking to hard-grooving rock ‘n’ roll, the album opens with “Rainy Day OK”: a catchy indie folk ditty with more pop than a spool of bubblewrap. By swapping his Gibson SG for an acoustic guitar, Nudelman lets listeners hear his nuances as a skilled and schooled guitarist. This is more evident in the following “The Things I Do,” where intricate arpeggios usher in a quirky, psychedelic folk-rocker about the joys of being young and wasting away a perfectly good day. “I’d Hate to See…” puts the electric guitar back in his hands for a more rocking tune with a hard-panned rhythm section seemingly inspired by early Who recordings. The standout song “Same Old Time” takes its playful cues from Marlo Thomas’ Free to Be...You and Me.