Chinese Album

Resurrecting fashion-oriented glam rock in the midst of all of the corduroy of indie rock helped propel Spacehog's "In the Meantime" onto the charts. The Chinese Album, their followup to their exciting debut, Resident Alien, is far from a sophomore slump, but it definitely shows the band in a bit of transition. The dramatic, rock star stylings of vocalist Royston Langdon are growing beyond the Bowie-like imitations that often plagued the first CD. As a single, "Mungo City" is a worthy successor to "In the Meantime," if not as immediately accessible. "One of These Days" has the band experimenting with trip-hop beats rather effectively. "Skylark" is a Beatles-like ditty displaying the band's tongue-in-cheek take on the music that most inspired them, and ultimately on themselves as well. "Captain Freemans" is another homage, not only to the Fab Four, but to mod-punks The Jam. The Chinese Album should hold Spacehog's detractors at bay and make fans of the first release anxious for even more from the band. --Steve Gdula