Accept The Signal

Space rock is a term that has been bandied about a lot recently, in a facile attempt to nail down the other-worldly magical sounds of Spiritualized and Mercury Rev.

While Jason Pierce sings of broken hearts and syringes, and the Rev create opus after opus of spine-tingling odes to nervous breakdowns and the tranquillity of the Catskills, there is room to take the cue from these great acts yet do something gloriously dumb and stupid. This is where Regular Fries are coming from.

Recent single 'King Kong' is a good place to start. A repeated mantra of "better be a monkey if you like King Kong" is repeated over spacey, chiming guitars and thick, heavy beats. 'The Girls' is almost bittersweet, but just when you think the Fries are getting all vulnerable on us, along comes a chorus of "Deep-sea diver/Lady Godiva/Lend us a fiver".

As the album progresses 'The Pink Room', 'Supposed to Be A gas' and 'Wires' orbit sonic stratospheres, and for a debut album the cohesion of such an original sound is breathtaking.

Celebrity mates and musical soul brothers Mercury Rev turn up not to remix but to reproduce 'Anno Domini #1'. Despite slight hints that it is the Rev at the wheel, it sounds like nothing ever has before.

It’s music, Jim, but not as we know it. It's so downright dumb it smacks of genius. We need a band like this.