I know, I know - it has been an intense roller-coaster ride with this blog - we're here, we're gone, we're back, we're gone again - and it's only natural to wonder what gives. The latest lull began in October, when I was sucked into the Black Hole of Campaigning (for the Massachusetts governor's re-election). Which was followed by a new job in New York as communications director for a state senator. While assuming the new job, I thought it best to lay low on the extra-curricular writing until I was firmly established, so as to not risk putting anything out there that might be off-message for the new team.
BUT things have changed. The job gods giveth, and the job gods taketh away(eth). The new job is wrapping up in January, which means that I'm now free to devote a little love to the Passenger. And I'm starting by posting a killer track from the British group known as Kula Shaker. The band, led by provocateur Crispian Mills, first gained a following in the mid-90s, hot on the heels of fellow Brits Oasis. Kula Shaker had one brilliant album, "K," followed by a couple of disappointments. Much like this blog, they were going strong, then suddenly disappeared, and then quietly reappeared a few years later.
In 2010, the band returned with Pilgrim's Progress, and though it initially washed right over me, I've recently come back to it, and now it's in heavy rotation. Kula Shaker has never been about reinventing the wheel or creating something completely original; rather, they've just been very good at writing catchy, energetic pop-rock with an Eastern influence. The songs are clean, crisp, and exciting, and what more can one really ask for from a rock band? One standout track from this disc, which is emblematic of all that is good about KS, is "Only Love," an acoustic ballad that starts with a swagger and just builds to a great climax over the next three minutes. Have a listen.