Lupine Howl

After getting booted out of Spiritualized by Mr. Spaceman, Mike Mooney, Sean Cook and Damon Reece wasted no time and formed Lupine Howl. The Carnivorous Lunar Activities Of... is a record full of drugs, psychedelia and soul, by a group who are out to prove that somebody made a big mistake. The atmosphere is extremely dark, moody and reeking of sex, drugs and rock'n'roll in a dirty, dirty way. Leadoff track and ace single "Vaporizer" is doused in narcotic deviance. Sounding like a collaboration between Phil Spector and Can, it definitely shows you what the band have been listening to. With a steady mixture of rockin' jams and trippy atmospherics, the songs range from great to interesting to just plain awful. There is a lot of promise on this record but this just isn't a solid record. You have to wonder whether Jason Pierce knew that he had got the best of this band when he fired them because, unfortunately, Lupine Howl's debut album is not up to par with what they were doing a few years ago, and that's a shame, really.