Aliens Gig is out of this World
Ex-Beta Band Men Wow London ULU Thanks To Eccentric Singer
© Ben Wood
At London's ULU, The Aliens' mix of psychedelia, great tunes and funky rythyms was a huge hit. The ex-Beta Band men shone, thanks largely to lead vocalist Gordon Anderson
The Beta Band R.I.P.
The Beta Band is dead, long live the Beta Band! For those who missed them, the Betas (1996-2004) could have been huge but blew it. But the band who first came to many people’s attention in the film High Fidelity, were scuppered by their own inconsistency and bloody-mindedness, and the general public’s failure to recognise greatness when it is staring them in the face.
However, while former Betas singer Steve Mason continues his solo career as King Biscuit Time, demon drummer Robin Jones and FX wizard John McLean (samplers, keyboards) were joined by former Betas frontman Gordon Anderson (aka Lone Pigeon) to form The Aliens. While naturally sounding somewhat like their old incarnation, The Aliens have a more upbeat, retro psychedelic rock sound.
Astronomy For Dogs
While The Aliens’ debut album Astronomy For Dogs has its moments (and received ecstatic press reviews), the songwriting felt slightly undercooked in places, and there was too much of a whiff of pastiche for it to totally convince. But the boys’ stellar live reputation meant that expectations were high at London ULU on June 14, 2007.
The Aliens Have Landed
Fortunately, The Aliens live experience blew the album out of the water. Despite the disappointments of the last decade, the Aliens are determined to be cheery – and then some. And the difference between this joyous crew, and the latter-day Betas, was frontman Anderson. He’d left the band after their Three EPs album and spent much of the next ten years in psychiatric institutions, but he’s now back, off the medication, and has found Jesus. Luckily for us, he’s still pretty loony, but in a good way! And he is determined to share his interest/obsession with UFOs, with the rest of us…
Opening with an inspired if overlong Star Trek video pastiche, the band (swollen to a five-piece for live purposes) cantered onto the stage. Anderson and his guitarist both seemed to be wearing massive shaggy wigs, and all the band wore OTT 1970s sunglasses. But while the stage presentation may have verged on the cheesy, the music was anything but, as the band beefed up the album’s sound, and wigged out at every opportunity.
Opener Setting Sun was transformed from a lightweight Monkees-style number with parping organ, to a meaty mid-period Who stomper. Other songs were only loosely connected to the album versions, as the band blasted off into space at every opportunity. Anderson was having a ball, doing Elvis-style karate kicks, looking thrilled to be playing live again after his decade in the wilderness (although a near-10 minute interlude where he created a puppet show from two discarded surgical gloves, showed that he may not quite have returned to earth just yet).
Beatles influences
Sublime harmonies conjured up the spirit of the Beatles on ’63-style ballad Tomorrow, and the cosmic ‘Rain’-style number Only Waiting. She Don’t Love Me Anymore was a big 70s-style ballad crying out for lighters to be raised, while the Kinksy Glover is plinky-plonky kitchen-sink drama that works.
The ludicrously cheery Happy Song is a Number One in a parallel universe, with it and the funky Robot Man giving ample evidence that introspection has given way to gurning joy in the Aliens’ world.
They’d run out of songs by now, but with the crowd demanding more the band returned to encore with a baggytastic maraca-shaking megamix that took in Higher than the Sun and Helter Skelter, amongst others. Aliens on 45!
With their abysmal luck, The Aliens will probably never make it big. But, if you see them at a festival anytime soon, check them out – they’ll put a smile on your face.
