Review Summary: End-of-the-world brain explosion from Britpop's forgotten heroes is overblown and preposterous. But maybe just a little bit genius too.
Let’s get it out of the way; this album is preposterous. Kula Shaker’s follow-up to their hugely successful ‘K’ album is a sprawling end-of-the-world epic, their take on the millennium celebration that was about to sweep the globe (with a healthy dose of Y2K thrown in for good measure). Coaxed into life by Bob Ezrin’s ‘kitchen sink’-style production, there are layers upon layers of lush harmonies, fuzzed out guitar, strings, choirs, and exotic Indian instruments at every turn.
While heading for a futuristic ‘revolution for fun’, head magician and frontman Crispian Mills has one foot firmly planted in the past; the 1960s to be precise. The decade famous for guitar-based pop, hippies and an interest in Indian culture weighs heavily on this record, not that that is a bad thing. There are hooks and epic choruses aplenty, from lead single ‘Mystical Machine Gun’ to the successful UK hit ‘Sound of Drums.
Listening to PP&A is really an assault on the senses. And it just doesn’t let up, minute after ridiculous minute. The word is a small fortune was spent by Mills and his bandmates in the making of this record, and you can almost hear the wads of cash spilling through the speakers. In an age of DIY home recordings, MySpace discoveries and reduced record company profit, they just don’t make albums like this anymore.
Mad, overblown and preposterous. But quite possibly genius too.
