Phases and Stages

Simian

We Are Your Friends (Astralwerks) Simian's 2001 debut, Chemistry Is What We Are, came off as the product of a band with too much kind bud on their hands -- lazy psychedelic weirdness that foretold of epic trippery to come. Somewhere along the path, however, Simian's monkey business morphed into music to walk erect by; We Are Your Friends is a 180-degree departure from the swirly goof of Chemistry, full of hummy melodies and loaded with electronic burblings that border on retro New Wave. Blondie on acid? More like the Super Furry Animals if they'd been kept as pets by ELO's Jeff Lynne and fed a steady diet of Ben Folds' melodica while puffing pipes full of Supergrass. "Never Be Alone" has the jaunty bounce of the latter's sillier work, and while Simian don't strike one as the sort to wheel down High Street atop a cushy king-sized Sleep-E-Z (à la Gaz Coombes & Co.), there's definitely some merry pranking going on here. "LA Breeze" positively swaggers out of your stereo hand in hand with Gary Glitter's trademark bump 'n' grind, scuffing up your freshly scrubbed ears with the sort of peacockery that made Sheer Heart Attack-era Freddie Mercury so gleefully epic. At times too synth-heavy for their own good and at other times downright bizarre, Simian nonetheless appears to be following a forest path no one else seems to be treading. Perhaps they're just lost. (La Zona Rosa, Thursday, March 13, 10pm)