5th March 2007With The Aliens' debut album Astronomy For Dogs preparing to land on March 19th, the mothership is sending out an advance party in the form of this formidable psych-pop nugget. 'Setting Sun' manages the tricky feat of marrying retro acid-rock stylings to a timeless pop song and then sprinkling this sublime concoction with a healthy dash of sonic spacedust.Put it alongside previous singles 'Happy Song' and 'Robot Man' and you can imagine what excitement the album delivers across its eleven tracks.The men responsible for this retro-future anthem are Gordon Anderson, John Maclean and Robin Jones. The trio have been friends since their days at Edinburgh College of Art where they started playing music together. All three were part of the original line-up of The Beta Band, but while John and Robin continued with The Beta Band for 8 years of touring, DJing, recording and making films Gordon's health forced him to leave the group and take time out to deal with his mental illness. It has taken Gordon the best part of a decade to leave such places behind, but he has been out of hospital and off medication for a while now.
Hes released the odd record under the name Lone Pigeon, and worked with his brothers Kenny (aka King Creosote) and Ian (aka Pip Dylan), and now, back with his old pals, he is front man of one of the most thrilling bands stalking the British musical landscape.
The Aliens are, at last, a version of a band that shoulda been, never was, then almost coulda been, but all of this seems unimportant the minute you lose yourself in their psychedelically inclined rock and acid dipped electronics.
Most importantly, perhaps, The Aliens are a self-sufficient creative unit, with production, artwork and videos all coming direct from the band themselves. John is responsible for directing the video to accompany 'Setting Sun' which features Robin in the starring role.
Its a bittersweet account of the bleakness of falling in love, being in love, falling out of love and watching your girlfriend hook up with another man.
As for The Aliens live, it's an unmissable, fist-in-mouth experience that showcases the band's infectious energy and their frontman's magnetism. Catch them when they tour in March:
Wed 14 Sheffield Leadmill
Thu 15 Nottingham Social
Sat 17 Manchester Night & Day
Sun 18 Bristol Fleece
Mon 19 London ULU
Tue 20 Leeds Faversham
Wed 21 Newcastle Cluny
Fri 23 Glasgow Classic Grand
Sat 24 Belfast Speakeasy
Sun 25 Dublin Crawdaddy
The Aliens
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