Album: The Aliens, Luna (Pet Rock)

Though undoubtedly a more focused affair than 2007's Astronomy For Dogs, which was the audio equivalent of a Damien Hirst spin-painting, with gaudy sounds flying off in all directions, Luna does little to change The Aliens' reputation as kitchen-sink psychedelicists unable to control their musical impulses.

Tracks like "Everyone" and "Bobby's Song" are overloaded with far too many disparate elements. It's the curse of digital recording, where there's no limit to the number of tracks that can be layered into a piece. Over the course of 10 minutes, "Bobby's Song" opens the album with a harmonica intro that leads into miasmic, fluttery psychedelic folk-pop, before shifting through electronic and prog-rock sections, and even a bout of accordion, before drifting out on a phased climax featuring some garbled stuff about smoking dope. Which came as no surprise. Elsewhere, "Theremin" blends sunny West Coast harmonies with the sound of a car driving off; the acid-rock stomp "Magic Man" doesn't try too hard to disguise its Syd Barrett influence; "Boats" offers a creditable Neil Young pastiche; and "Smoggy Bog" sounds like an outtake from Piper at the Gates of Dawn. All entertainingly cosmic, but rather backward-looking, as if "progressive" were a matter of style rather than attitude. Perhaps it is.

Pick of the album:'Magic Man', 'Theremin', 'Sunlamp Show'