Spiritualized mastermind Jason "Spaceman" Pierce was all too public about firing essentially all of his bandmates after the tour that produced the Live at Albert Hall album (he wisely kept Coil co-conspirator Thighpaulsandra, though). However, instead of letting it get them down too much, the crew struck back and reformed under the moniker of Lupine Howl. "Vaporizer," the latest single from their Carnivorous Lunar Activities album sounds more like a forced attempt to recreate the Britpop funk of Shaun Ryder's Black Grape than the beautiful noise of Spiritualized.Vinyl Hiss
While a bit too reminiscent of Ryder's kidney-swapping-for-crack anthem for my tastes, the single stays in your head just long enough to stick. Massive Attack's own 3D remixes the track without changing the flow of it all that much, which is disappointing considering the potential it could have had. The b-side "You Get Inside Me" is a muddy little hunk of garage band glitz, swapping cleaner atmospheric verses with dirgey choruses. I can't imagine myself listening to this single nearly as much as their cinematic work in Spiritualized, but they do deserve credit for not just trying to imitate Pierce's bizarre and unique vision. Rather than allowing themselves to fade into obscurity, Lupine Howl has settled for something a little better than mediocrity.
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