From Terrascope: Getting (for once) deservedly good mainstream press at the moment are The Regular Fries. Comparisons with the Happy Mondays, Primal Scream and Spiritualized abound, but ex-hack Paul Moody intends this to be a "23rd century amalgam of Roxy Music, the Deviants and Soft Machine." Their nearest contemporaries to my mind are Delakota and Arthur. (There are rumoured links with the ´ Fries and the Target label that Arthur were on). The Fries sound like Funkadelic would have if they were from a hip, urbane part of London, and their live shows are full-on experiences. Think of the Roundhouse circa 1967. Eye peeling projections, (which they refuse to play without) and a ton of opium incense assault the senses. After the opening drone of ´ Agar,´ the funky ´dust it´ starts with bongos then breaks out in rashes of Moog, funky Rhodes and Madchester guitar. Vocals are whispered, and to use a 1989 music press cliche, "blissed out." The Soft Machine comparisons are underlined by the slightly Robert Wyatt-ish accent. Single ´ King Kong´ starts in on a slowburn with acoustic guitar, piano and the phased keys of ´ Ogden´s Nut Gone Flake.´ Then the weird shit lyrics kick in: "Better be a monkey if you like King Kong, if you can´t get it right then you better get it wrong." ´dream Lottery´ starts with the ´ Get Carter´ theme played backwards on ultra-delayed space guitar, then wanders off into the singers´ mumbling medicined head. "Tonights´ numbers are mine", he sings. An elated metaphor for chemical bliss, or just waking up sharply after finding yourself naked, live on the lottery draw? It could be you. ´ Welcome to the Brainwash´ is a cover of the Twin Peaks´ bar band from ´ Fire Walk with Me´ , the sonic equivalent of scraping your nails down a blackboard. There´s lots here to satisfy any addled head, musings on postmodern pre-millenial life: "Got my life on remote control," "nothing´s ever built to last," "am I a figment of my imagination or am I a part of yours," and enough positive groove to nourish us throughout the summer. After their recent Homelands performance Paul Moody said: "We´ve come from the stars, but the earth machines couldn´t deal with us." Fried, not regular, the signal is accepted. (Steve Hanson)