Novelty doesn't quite shake up unabashed Brit pop

KULA SHAKER

Kula Shaker (Columbia)

The Brits have taken over the world! Okay, not exactly. But the British music scene is making quite an impact over here in the states. With the releases of The Beatles anthologies and with such big acts like Oasis, Bush, and Radiohead, American music listeners are definitely taking notice. The group Kula Shaker is a newcomer to this raucous tea and scones set, whose debut album K&A already hit the top of British record charts.

To understand Kula Shaker is to understand that their inspiration comes from out of this world, specifically the Omnipotent and the Omniscient Governor. The four bandmembers are all devout Buddhists, and this shows in their music, with its blend of eastern-like guitar chords and recurring religious chants. Now blend all this with a retro-psychedelic blues sound. Confused? The sound from these four Brits is hard to pin down, but it is the wide variety of influences and sounds that makes Kula Shaker an awesome listening adventure.

All the songs are sung by Crispian Mills, son of 60s child star Hayley Mills of Parent Trap fame. The first track, "Hey Dude," begins with drums and guitars, and then takes off on a fast-paced retro groove, building to a feverish crescendo. Unfortunately, the song loses its freshness and resorts to a frenzy.

The first real show of enduring talent comes in the ly track "Temple of The Everlasting Light," with its seductive, mysterious acoustic guitar duel, but then the electric guitar jumps in, and there is this crazy combat-like atmosphere that makes for a listening charge. The result is a carefully constructed piece with a hypnotic rhythm.

Unfortunately, they are not able to sustain the listener's interest and take their Eastern influence to a level near pretention in "Govinda," the second released single from the album. The lyrics here are a traditional prayer. With the aid of a mellotron and non-traditional instruments, the song begins to transport you to another dimension of the universe. The sliding guitars and controlled distortions almost make you believe the group's message--that instruments that can solve the question of the mind and the body. But the key word is almost. Overall, "Govinda" seems to last just a tad bit too long.

But you can't doze for too long because with tracks like the first single, "Tattva," you get right back into the music. "Tattva" means the simultaneous inconceivable difference and non-difference of reality. The song begins with an alternating funk and retro bite but then jumps into a 60s psychedelic; call it the "Strawberry Fields" for the 90s if you want to be trite.

The album may start off like a conventional "I-want-to-be-Hendrix-and-the-Beatles-too" attempt, but it recuperates with truly impressive songs like "Grateful When You're not Dead/Jerry was There," a strange tribute to the Grateful Dead, and "303," with its "to-hell-with-the-world-I-know-who-I-am" attitude.

Kula Shaker's appeal lies in their aggressive style. This is one group that really plays their music; their songs come at the listener from every direction and constantly keeps you guessing. Just when you think you have the formula down, they change pace. This is refreshing in the modern music scene where it seems like you know all too well just where and when the drums or the guitar or the singing is going to begin.

--Soo Hugh

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