Kula Shaker

By TROY J. AUGUSTO

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Kula Shaker (Whisky; 395 capacity; $ 10) Promoted by Goldenvoice. Band: Crispian Mills, Jay Darlington, Alonza Bevan, Paul Winter-Hart. Reviewed Nov. 22 , 1996. England's Kula Shaker rode into town as the next big Brit-pop thing, sporting a recent No. 1 album at home, a big-bucks promo campaign and enough hype to float a dozen bigscreen blockbusters. So, did they live up to the pre-show buildup? Are they poised to do what so many before them threatened but failed to do crack the stubborn U.S. market? Sadly, no on both counts. The live version of the band was noticeably bereft of the exotic, Eastern-influenced ingredients that make its debut album, "K" (Columbia), so singularly charming. Oasis' seat at the top of the Anglo-heap is, in fact, safe for another day. Unable to re-create onstage the mystical edge of its album, the foursome, led by photogenic singer-guitarist (and son of actress Hayley) Crispian Mills, were reduced to little more than an above-average retro pop band with an appreciation of the lost spirituality of flower-power rock. Commendable, but hardly rewarding. The music was delivered with a muscular confidence rarely seen from baby Brit bands, most of which arrive on these shores far too green. Kula Shaker's straight-ahead, unadorned live presentation simply lacked any defining character or individuality. "Knight On the Town" was catchy, but sounded too much like Buffalo Springfield's "Mr. Soul"; alternative radio hit "Tattva" almost inadvertently fell into a David Bowie "wham, bam, thank you, ma'am" refrain; while the show's musical highlight, a stab at Deep Purple's hippie version of Joe South's "Hush" was, well, a cover. A big thumbs-up, though, for "Grateful When You're Dead," a cocky goodbye ("If you're driving roads to suicide, I know you can sympathize") to Jerry Garcia, written just weeks before the late singer's untimely, if predictable, death. Next. Troy J. Augusto