The Aliens – Luna (Music Review)
By Andrew Duncan • Oct 27th, 2009 • Category: Categories, Indie Pop, ReviewsThe Aliens
Luna
Birdman
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Have you ever just sat down and listened to The Zombies’ Oracle & Odyssey from front to back? Just sit down and completely devoid of the outside world just listen to that album? And I’m not talking about re-living “Time Of The Season” over and over again, but everything before and after and how entrancingly messed up that album is. Take that entire album and cram it into 10 minutes and you have the first song (“Bobby’s Song”) from Luna.
Those first 10 minutes set the stage for the rest of the journey as the band sends your senses on an adventure and leaves you staring at the sounds that are coming out of the speakers, mouth agape and every atom you possess splattered all over the hemisphere.
You might feel a familiarity to The Aliens’ psychedelic sound as the band is transcended from electronic psych-poppers The Beta Band. Something happened after From Heroes To Zeros as the band erased their existence, went back to the beginning and started all over. Gone are the mutli-dimensional vocal harmonies, and amplified is the musical depth you ever wanted from the talent this band is capable of.
Luna is more guitar oriented, taking all of the good things from the psychedelic era because without those psychedelic sounds, this album simply would not be. Using vintage electronics more as punctuation,“Magic Man” pounds your head like a rock and roll panther who has found its prey.
“Amen” and “Smoggy Bog” are simple atmospheric transitions that lead into something like “Daffodils,” which sound more like flowers exploding in space than the twirling pop sound that we would expect. And that overtly-happy sound even exists as “Sunlamp Show?” It goes to show that The Aliens not only can cover the gamut of sound like a dayglow metallic rainbow, but they handle it all extremely well. And once you hear something like “Billy Jack,” you will never let go.
Links:
The Aliens’ Website: http://www.thealiens.co.uk/
Birdman Label: http://www.birdmanrecords.com/
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (0.0KB)
Andrew Duncan is a journalist who has migrated to the forces of academia. He has written for various publications including Chord, Heckler, Readyset...Aesthetic, and a vast array of alternative press contributions. When not roaming the streets of Indianapolis, he is either addicted to KXCI, making music, or striving to watch every film listed on IMDB.
Email this author | All posts by Andrew Duncan
