Raging hot curry - Album Of The Week

Stuck in a musical wormhole which runs from ancient India to 1960s California, Kula Shaker's sound has been predestined and predetermined, and their second album predictably follows the blueprint of their 1996 debut, K. Where K was a mild madras, however, Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts is a raging hot curry, exploding with piquant flavours and aromatic essences. Crispian Mills and his groovy Goa gang have taken the smart road, staying on their familiar Eastern hippie trail, but taking us even deeper into the realm of the senses. The sense of purpose is clear in the opening mantra of Great Hosannah: Mills may have been crucified by the heretics and cynics, but he still hasn't lost sight of his musical - and spiritual - goals. Radhe Radhe, which features Govinda vocalist Gauri Chaudhry, is a heady chant which would send Page & Plant into a tailspin, while Golden Avatar continues Crispian's quest for the Zen of pop. S.O.S.

mixes Quadrophenia with The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown, Mills spitting out such lines as "This is the age of decay and hypocrisy/ Sometimes I feel the world isn't ready for me". The influences get a bit out of hand during 108 Battles: the song starts off like your typical British beat tune from the Sixties, but soon changes into a grotesque Yes pastiche. However, the whole folly strangely works, as does the rather unwieldy Mystical Machine Gun and the slightly drippy Shower Your Love. Call it the Ocean Colour Scene syndrome, but Kula Shaker have proved that you can deliver the same musical message as before, add just a little extra fire and brimstone, and still keep your disciples happy.