ALBUM REVIEWS
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M. Tye Comer/ CMJ New Music Report 495/ 21.10.1996: For those of you thinking that it's time for the new Brit-pop sensation to roll through town and turn the pubs upside-down, look no further: Kula Shaker's ship has just docked. On one hand, the London quartet's debut release, K, will remind you of the pomp and circumstance of those crazy, E-poppin' Brits exported to us silly Americans at the turn of the decade: trippy wah-wah guitars and woozy organ sweeps fused with funky drumming and spacy vocals that tout a heavy, "mystical brotherhood" vibe. Kula Shaker would fit easily on a Manchester world tour circa 1990, with the likes of Inspiral Carpets, Charlatans, Soup Dragons, etc. The only catch is that Kula Shaker would have to be the headliner; it only takes one listen to hear what sets this troupe apart from its predecessors. It has taken the core rhythms and mystic enlightenment of Hindu meditation and married it to a conventional pop framework, transforming the psychedelic sway of Britain's recent past into a spiritual awakening. The transcendent "Tattva" - which means truth in Sanskrit, the language in which vocalist Crispian Mills (son of Hayley) sings many of the album's lyrics - is the album's most original, inspired and utterly memorable track. The vibe is felt throughout the record on stellar cuts like "Hey Dude", "Temple Of Everlasting Light", and the blissful "Govinda". With the fierce collection of spiritual revelations and pop-laden prayers that K presents, Kula Shaker attempts to bring its swooning fans one step closer to musical nirvana. Ron Hart/ CMJ New Music Report 615/ 26.4.1999: With its debut album K, Kula Shaker proved to the world that swirling, psychedelic Brit-pop was alive and well and being performed by the son of a semi-noteworthy British actress. On Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts, leader Crispian Mills, son of Hayley Mills, who starred in the 1960 screen classic Pollyann, has entered the hanging-out-with-Ravi-Shankar -phase of his career. With renowned producer Bob Ezrin (Kiss' Destroyer, Peter Gabriel's So) behind the boards, the London quartet's sophomore set sounds an awful lot like a time-warped, 1970-spawned offspring of Jesus Christ Superstar and Nuggets, weaned on a liberal amounts of Eastern mysticism and ethnic music. The tandoori flavorings of K are fully fleshed-out on Peasants, which is spiced with lava lamp organ jams, kaleidoscopic guitar licks and elaborate symphonic arrangements. George Harrison would be proud. |