Cowboys and Indians

by

The Jeevas

Edit

This is the second record from the Jeevas(Crispian Mills, Andy Nixon, and Dan McKinna). As a big Kula Shaker fan, I am a bit shocked to say that I am loving Crispian's newest band, even more. While the Jeevas debut, "1,2,3,4" was instantly infectious, this second album requires a few listens before getting hooked. That's not to say it isn't just as good as the debut, it may even be better. The songwriting is more complex yet the hooks are still there.

It is interesting to note that there are a lot of blatent love songs here unlike any of Crispian's work previously. There are also some very good cover versions of CCR's "Have you ever seen the rain" and Dylan's "Master's of War"(It is mind boggling how current/relevent the lyrics to "Masters" are still to this day!) which is preceded by another very political song called, "How much do you suck". It is catchy and it gets stuck in your head upon first listen.

My favorites from the album are "The way you carry on" which has a bit of a T-Rex vibe to it, "I can't help myself" which has a catchy swagger, "Back Home" which is a sweet sad end of a relationship song, and ofcourse "Good man down" which totally rocks.

If you loved Kula, if you loved the first Jeevas record, this is a definete must have and a natural progression from one of the greatest bands out of England. I just wish they had a US label so they wouldn't be so hard to get and maybe give us stateside a tour!

This album is 'ok'. Overall its better than 1,2,3,4. Kula Shaker was my insperation for trying it out, in that regards its rather unmemorable - it lacks the depth and vibrance of Kula and instead becomes basic rock songs without much interest, some worse then others, for example "How Much Do You Suck", I don't understand how one could go from Kula brilliance to that piece o-suckery?! On the flip side there are a few tracks worth taking a listen to, "Healing Hands", "Masters of War" and "Stoned Love" display hints of what made Kula Shaker such a pleasure to hear, these 3 songs in themselves are what make this album somewhere between 3-4 stars however a good number of the others bring it back between a 2-3. For me, Its a 3 for now.