Back to the 60’s with the psychedelic rock of The Aliens

Setting Sun.How many times has Brian Wilson been credited or blamed (depending on which way you look at it) for the sound of a record? Here we go again with The Aliens debut; Astronomy For Dogs.The album begins, like all of their live shows, with the Doors sounding "Setting Sun", which sets the tone for the album's upbeat and ‘happy’ first half, moving through "Robot Man", "Tomorrow" and "Rox", sounding very much like early Beta Band or outtakes from Primal Scream’s Screamadelica..The sound of strings on the epic "She Don't Love Me No More", starts the unhappy second half followed by "Glover" and "Honest Again" before "Happy" offers a little bit of wiz. "Caravan" then kicks in, which builds into a 15minute trudge to the end. (OK, there is a 4 minute gap right after 10 minutes and then the mantra ‘How Long Will It Be, Before I See You Again?’.A lot has been made of Gordon Anderson's well documented illness making this into a happy/sad album but most albums take this sort of line otherwise they would all be extremely flat and boring..Apart from ‘Caravan’ a very interesting and tuneful album even if some of the lyrics are a bit odd. (I’m the Robot Man-Yeah, right).The Happy SongThe Aliens – Astronomy For Dogs, released 15 March 07 on EMI.(UK).1. Setting Sun 2. Robot Man 3. I Am The Unknown 4. Tomorrow 5. Rox 6. Only Waiting 7. She Don't Love Me No More 8. Glover 9. Honest Again 10. The Happy Song 11. Caravan .Mogs (out of 10) MMMMM MM