Country: United Kingdom
Genre: Alternative Rock
Style: Britpop
Label Number: COL 493142 2
.FLAC via Florenfile
.AAC 256 kbps via Florenfile© 1999 Columbia
AllMusic Review by Stephen Thomas ErlewineFame was not kind to
Kula Shaker, largely because
Crispian Mills could not keep his mouth shut. Speaking like the child of privilege he is,
Mills
alienated a fair segment of the British pop audience and music press
with presumptuous, misguided comments about mysticism and spirituality,
as well as a general arrogance. A mere eight months after the release of
their debut,
K,
Kula Shaker
was dreadfully overexposed and the group's hippy-dippy
neo-psychedelicism and rock classicism were falling out of favor,
leaving them with little choice but to retreat to work on their second
record. It wasn't quite as easy as that. After rejecting their original
producer,
John Leckie, and
George Drakoulias, they brought
Bob Ezrin aboard and began a lengthy recording process. By the time their second record,
Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts, was released in the spring of 1999, it had been two-and-a-half years since
K
appeared in stores -- enough time to regulate the group to footnote
status for many observers. You wouldn't know that from the grand,
theatrical sound of
Peasants,
however. The record comes on as a blockbuster, deluging the listener
with layers of psychedelic effects, swirling guitars, appropriated
chants, Indian instruments,
Deep Purple jams,
Beatles references, and mystical babble. On a purely sonic level, it's easy to admire what
Kula Shaker achieve. They have no shame in recreating the summer of love in a '90s studio and, with
Ezrin's
help, they've created some enticing, sugary Technicolor treats. The
problem is, the high fades away pretty quickly, leaving very little of
substance behind. As a songwriter,
Mills,
for all his portentous posturing, doesn't have a whole lot to say and
he doesn't really know how to say it. Only a handful of songs -- "Shower
Your Love," "108 Battles" -- are memorable outside of their sonic
trappings, which leaves
Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts in pretty much the same position as
K. It's the kind of record that sounds pretty impressive as it plays, but makes almost no lasting impression.
tags: kula shaker, peasants pigs and astronauts, 1999, flac,
