Kula Shaker “Wormslayer”

It’s probably fair to say that very few people would’ve expected Kula Shaker to be releasing new material some 30 years after the height of Brit pop. But whilst they haven’t got the same exposure as the likes of Suede or Pulp, the band have released albums in each of the last three years.

This latest album provides absolutely everything that you would want from a Kula Shaker record. Most importantly, that includes songs like “Lucky Number” and “Charge Of The Light Brigade” which are just brilliant indie pop/rock songs. They tend to add more of a psychedelic feel on songs like “Be Merciful” but one thing they have always been able to deliver is songs with instant appeal like “Shaunie” or the absolutely rocking title track “Wormslayer”.

They have always been known for their references to Eastern culture and musical influences and again this is heavily evident on this album with tracks like “Good Money” (which even seems to sample their own “Tattva” song). Traditionally the English music press has somewhat lazily always referenced The Beatles as an obvious influence. In fact an at least equally relevant reference would seem to be The Doors. That’s definitely seen here on “Little Darling“ and in the case of “Broke In Folk”  almost reaches pastiche level, given the organ sound is so close to the one in “When The Music’s Over”. We expect many Doors fans will hate it, but as diehard fans we just love the fact a band is seeking to deliver this sound to potential new audiences.

This is an exceptional album which exceeded our expectations and is probably the best since their debut. Let’s be honest, if you didn’t like Kula Shaker originally, then you probably won’t like this. But if you were a fan then, we can guarantee you will absolutely love this. What would be even better is if a whole new generation of fans could pick up on this. Whilst the sound is “very Kula Shaker”, even after all this years, it is still very different to anything else around. It seems weird saying this in January, but we already think this album will be near the top of our favourite albums at the end of the year!