You'll find traces of the Happy Mondays crossed with a ska-less version of The Specials. Or is this the British version of a too pretty for their own good Modest Mouse? The mysterious London-based artist has kept it simple with layered vocals piled on top piano, harmonica, and strings. Smooth production, quirky reggae beats, slow rhythms, all topped off with deliberately simple guitar solos and scales. Sometimes a bit lyrically overwhelming but I have a feeling that legendary two-stepper Bez would approve.

Enigma is clearly paramount in ALIEN ALRIGHT'S universe. Despite reading through his/their website (www.alienalright.com) in detail, I'm still not sure if AA are an individual or a band per se. Not that it's a problem where this writer is concerned, as he's always happy to lay the mystery on with a trowel. Besides, when confronted by something as intriguing and well-executed as this five-track EP, then...well, why ask too many questions when you should be absorbing, right? Although your reviewer hasn't heard it, he can say for sure that Alien Alright prevously released a live and acoustic debut album called "Howard Good's Radio Sessions", but "The First Impression EP" is a far more rounded and ambitious affair musically, with all of these five tracks coming across as thought-provoking and uniformly excellent. "First Impression" itself opens the EP and features gutsy guitars, high-pitched vocals and subtle usage of samples. It's gritty indie pop with a Talking Heads-style sing-song slant and occasional squalls of dissonance. It does circle the currently de rigeur post-punk staples with its' clipped and funky guitars, but not in any horribly derivative way and overall it's a fine start. Second tune "Jimi Iconoclast", meanwhile, was originally released as a promo single prior to Alien Alright's Edinburgh Festival Performance last summer and it soon ensures the quality remains tip-top. It's less funky than "First Impression", but it's spacier and more mysterious, with the drums nodding to trip-hop, the guitars snaky and delicate and the whole caboodle refreshingly tough to categorise. Which, of course, is usually a good sign. Both of these are rather good, but it's with "Blue Plaque" that Alien Alright really begin(s) to shine. This one really smoulders thanks to dark, descriptive acoustic guitars, rippling piano and a distinct tinge of David Bowie and/ or Suede hidden in its' fetching world-weariness. It's a corker, as is the ensuing "Little Sigh Of Content" which utilises a fanfare (trumpet?) sample and tows an undercurrent of reggae in its' wake. This impressively diverse affair is then completed by arguably its' finest moment in "Orchid Energy (Backing Away)" which is a languidly anthemic thing with initially brushed drums which builds up via a redemptive, Primal Scream-ish aspect and a drifting cloud of harmonica that recalls John Barry's "Midnight Cowboy" OST to these ears. Where Alien Alright go(es) from here is anyone's guess, of course, but then that's the beauty of this game, isn't it? Whatever that deal turns out to be in future, though, "The First Impression" EP suggests game on for Alien Alright. It's not too strong to suggest these five songs really are out of this world.

At first listen, Alien Alright's EP "First Impression" is a great set of 5 songs that display a subtle range of genre tacklings without sounding like the demo tape of a cover band. It has a loose college alt rock sound with just the slightest punk tendency, giving it a refreshing edge. Maybe a little Modest Mouse, maybe a little Sex Pistols, and definitely cool. The key, as with any band wanting to make their album more than a coaster, is having a unique sound and the talent to keep it going. A/A has it. Five songs are not enough. Buy it and you'll know what I mean. OK, this is a great band and they're not done yet. The thing that's "interesting" about Alien Alright is the "mystery" surrounding this band. Their website has little to no info about them. No band bios, no story of their struggle. Nothing. Their album is distributed solely online. Their label, Pomleroy Records, has no web site. All sites offering their tracks or a mention of the band name all use the same lame press kit copy. So who is Alien Alright? I have it on good authority (read: rumor by a much more detail-oriented critic than myself) that Alien Alright is in fact a single, solitary dude. How is that possible, you say, after buying and listening to this album? The answer: TECHNOLOGY. Yes, this is a single dude and a COMPUTER. ELECTRONIC MUSIC, MAN. Samples, Loops -- all the gismos usually reserved for the ecstasy-dropping rave crowd, not our sweat-and-guts college rockers! That's what makes these "guys" GREAT!!! What's wrong with tracking out a bad-ass rock album alone in your room? It sounds killer! It sounds, well, like a bunch of guys in a garage (with good mikes). We get fooled into thinking this is organic, and we get a solid album to boot. Is this a rumor? Is it true? Maybe. So what? If I'm wrong, I dare the label to let me know: reggie cdreviews com. And when you drop me a line, you can explain why "Jimi Iconoclast" (the "single" from the EP) is promoted more than "Little Sigh Of Content," a far superior track, and I can tell you the clue in the first 10 seconds of the album that is your dead giveaway.