ho the hell were The Polyphonic Spree before they hit the shores of the UK? Seriously. A friend of mine was into them when they released their album, only because he was a huge Tripping Daisy fan, and continued to follow the band members' every move once they were over. Yeah, he mentioned them to me, and I never really took notice until I saw an ad in Magnet for the album on Good Records. What records? Yeah, that's what I thought. When the nice guy from the label, Chris, sent me a review copy, I thought it sounded like Tripping Daisy after a night of listening to The Soft Bulletin and Surfs Up one too many times. Oh, I enjoyed it, but that final track, the one that's a half an hour with the same fuckin' sound, it didn't make any sense (It still doesn’t).


After owning it for a month, NME got a hold of their “Soldier Girl” EP and started praising the band. Other UK mags followed, and then I noticed that maybe I had missed something. I hadn’t read anything about them in North American press, so when I saw them in the British press, receiving near perfect marks, I knew I had overlooked something. I went back, listened to the first nine tracks (avoiding the tenth, again), and caught a glimpse. I also took notice of their wardrobe.


My friend had already pointed out that there were quite a few of them, and that they wore these robes. I didn’t really notice these 20+ Texans were in white robes (although that may be because the album cover in the US has a painting of something obscure, and the updated version in the UK, which came out months later, has them all standing in their robes) until I read headlines about them being a cult and preaching some weird gospel. So, I became even more interested, listened harder, and even went back and took more of an interest in Tripping Daisy (who I must add, had some great psychedelic pop songs, even though most people unfairly hailed them as a lesser Flaming Lips).


I guess it wasn’t until I moved to England, and finally got a chance to see them play live (to this day, I don’t think they’ve made it within 5 hours of Toronto), that I caught a glimpse of their magic. Weaseling my way onto the guest list, my girlfriend and I caught the band at their show in Brighton. Perfectly held at the Concorde 2 along the beach, the show was unlike anything I had ever witnessed. They walked onstage, one by one, taking their marks. As soon as Tim DeLaughter spoke into the mic, with his ultra nice-guy voice, everything seemed so reassuring. When the band stood there performing the first song, I swear, I saw a big ray of light come from those white robes like the Care Bears joining to ward off evil with their “Care Bear Stare”. The set followed the tracklisting of their album, rightfully so. It seemed all like a concept, but a nice warm and fuzzy one, with everyone in the room “getting” what they were singing about. It was impossible not to feel the love, even from the gross drunk guy who passed out right in front of us.


I have to say, I can’t remember a show like this. Spiritualized in ‘95? Close, but no. KISS on their first reunion tour with Ace and Peter? Not even close. Normally, gigs bore the snot out of me, but I could have sat in front of this 23-piece for hours on end. I’d have to say in 2002, I witnessed magic, because my faith in live music was restored all because of this band of hippies from Texas. Apparently they now sell robes at the merch stands during their gigs. How cool is that? Oh, c’mon, you know you want one.