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"Finally! After a year of searching and waiting, I got my hands on this album!"
New band for Crispian Mills: sadly, Kula Shaker broke up, and the blond frontman strips his music down to the essentials, re-emerging on the scene with a guitar-bass-drums trio particularly inspired by the golden era of sunny 60's and 70's sounds.
The first thing you notice from the first listen is that the Indian influences, both textually and sonically, have been completely abandoned. Just like in the "Shaker," here too Mills plays the guitar, writes all the songs, and sings with his clear and moving voice, undoubtedly among the best to emerge from the 90s brit rock scene.
Theoretically, this is his solo album, but we know how things go... if you don't have a band with "The" in front of the name today, you're nobody, so... you adapt.
But "The" is the first and last thing the Jeevas have in common with the likes of The Vines, The Strokes, and so on. Indeed, the group's sounds come neither from the Velvet Underground nor from grunge, but at times they hark back to the Beach Boys, with those typically "Venice Beach" choruses, also using keyboards, Ray Manzarek's Farfisa organ (which Mills will never leave out in his compositions).
The sound devoted to the Beatles and the seemingly simple tunes to recreate at home with a guitar is indispensable.
The opening track "Virginia" is beautiful and can also be compared to "Hey Dude" from '96. The standout track is undoubtedly "What Is It For?" which features Mills in a ballad version, reminiscent of "I'm Still Here" from "Peasant Pigs And Astronauts," but this time it's not just the guitar accompanying him but a worthy arrangement, especially on the bass.
The album certainly does not stand out for originality, and truth be told, there are likely many bands like the Jeevas out there (so much so that the record label, "Cowboy Musik Limited," distributed it in only five or six European countries, so if you want to buy it, the only way is through the Internet) yet each track holds its own, even those truly reportable to the police for the lyrics "You've got my number; Why don't you use it? Use it! Use it! Do it! Do It now!" ("You've Got My Number").
For die-hard Kula Shaker fans like myself, this album is a welcome surprise that somewhat soothes the anger of seeing their favorite band die after only two great albums.
P.S. If you want to know more about how the group was formed or simply take a look at how the singles from the album are presented (the covers are truly beautiful), visit the site: www.thejeevas.com.
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