Wherever the girl goes Crispian will follow. It's lead him down paths before that laid trouble at his door. Who can forget that falling for an Indian girl while in school lead to him dipping in cultures he didn't truly understand and fans and detractors know all too well the situation that happened several years later when Crispian made all too naive spiritual statements. It seems however that his obsession with the fairer sex has taken him over the good old US of A and what seemed liked a brief flirtation on "1234" has developed further with the forthcoming release of the new album "Cowboys And Indians".

There is something indescribably charming about Crispian. So smug, so conceited and yet so adoring you couldn't ever lay a hand on his seemless face. The way he can swerve between the inane thrills of rock & roll and then attempt to enter into politics with "How Much Do You Suck" is absurd in itself, but somehow the boy pulls it off. While the debut album seemed natural and flowing a lot of the songs from "Cowboys And Indians" can seem a little forced. You want to believe that the albums title was chosen for obvious reasons (i.e. American's world domination being related back to the events the country was founded on), but you get the feeling that it's simply been a case of "that Americana theme worked well on the last album, lets take it too the logical conclusion of choosing something uniquely American".

For me I was never a Kula Shaker fan so the brief dips into the back catalogue are of little interest. "303", "Shower Your Love On Me" and "Hey Dude" are mere reminders of the musical cesspit that was Britpop and when you compare them to the likes of "Once Upon A Time In America", "Virginia" and "Ghost (Cowboy In The Movie)" they simply don't stand up in my eyes. Not that the fans here would agree who greet each Kula expedition like the voyage to india.

I'd said last time that if the Jeevas could escape their past leaving Kula Shaker well behind them they might be able to break through. What a pity is was to see Crispian revert to a caricature of his former self?

Alex McCann