Another unusually monickered CD lands on my desk here in the frozen Northern tundra for analysis. Personal Space Invaders are another new young band with a bit of a cosmopolitan make up that are garnering some good reviews and landing some interest. 

First track up is “Pictures In Black And White” which has a very boppy, poppy start before switching into a sort of Terrorvision style track with hints of Scissor Sisters. This gives it a pretty funky groovy rock beat which makes quite pleasant listening. Good start as we move onto the second track. “Song For Rebels”  has hints of Depeche Mode and a couple of other 80’s and wouldn't have been out of place playing at a school disco back in the early/mid 80’s. The guitar work in it though is more reminiscent of Simple Minds although perhaps funkier. It's actually interestingly catchy, if slightly more relaxed than what I would normally listen to. 

Blame is perhaps the strongest track on the EP. It's more guitar driven than the previous two numbers and is again very catchy and wouldn’t be out of place in the top 40. There are hints of  Maroon 5 and the Chillies mixed in which works pretty well and is a slightly unusual sounding song that works mainly due to the strong musical ability of the band. “Attention” is up next and it starts with harder guitars and is a lot more “rock”. As in keeping with the rest of the EP though they have kept the catchiness and added a little flair with some almost Latin style vocals in the chorus. Finally, rounding out the CD, is the ballad “Settle” which is probably the weakest effort on show. Whilst It's competent enough it's missing the hooks and odd touches that infect the other songs and hence comes across a bit bland and loses the attention rather easily. 

personal Space Invaders have delivered a very competent EP indeed, and one that has interesting quirky touches all the way through, allied to fine musicianship and strong vocals. They have definitely opened my eyes a bit and I definitely look forward to seeing what they can do on a full length platter.

Contact: www.myspace.com/personalspaceinvaders

Track Listing

Pictures In Black And White
Song For Rebels
Blame
Attention
Settle

Line Up

Adam Liston – Bass/Vocals
William Durzu – Guitars/Vocals
Timothy Walters – Percussion/Vocals