Kula Shaker: Crispian Mills (vocals, guitar); Jay Darlington (organ); Alonza Bevan (bass); Paul Winterhart (drums). After creating a stir with their debut album K, Kula Shaker follows up with a purposeful upping of the ante on PEASANTS. Like its predecessor, the album brashly melds the cinematic, spacy Britrock sweep of Spiritualized with Middle Eastern melodic touches (the mid-period Beatles are strongly evoked, especially on the flower power epic "Shower Your Love") and the occasional loop-oriented trip-hop touch. The strongest emotional connection for Kula Shaker seems to be with the '60s--heavy organ, choral vocals, Yardbirdsy guitar and harp, it seems like the quartet has learned every trick in the post-'65 rock & roll book and filtered through a harder-edged '90s Britpop orientation. PEASANTS is an ambitious, broad-ranging album, drunk on the driftwood of pop culture and creative enough to make something new of it.

• Genre: Pop
• Format: Vinyl
• Released: 11/08/2011