Don't laugh: this stuff is HARD. The simplest ideas are usually the most difficult to pull off. Immediacy is an X factor that you pretty much have to have if you want to function as a rock band, let alone a glam obsessed rock band from outer space in kabuki makeup.

Enter Lucy and the Lipstix, a new outfit from Tokyo that hits its marks more often than not. If the cover wasn't enough to clue you in, take a look at the song titles: "Space Invader," "Zero Gravity," and the stupendously named "Glam Razor Shock." OK, we got persona. Fortunately, LATL know what they're going for musically as well: like The Dickies with even more Banana Splits influence, "10th Cosmic Ray Of Electric Supernova" (say that ten times fast) is half an hour of catchy, sometimes hilarious sugar rush and manic toddler bounce that flies by way too fast to ever wear out its welcome.

The Banana Splits thing gets very close to being explicit with "黄金の爬虫類" ("Golden Lizard,) which is basically that "group's" theme song reimagined as a majestic, if slightly ridiculous, ode to reptiles. Bubblegum, One of the band's strengths is their ability to recognize what tropes will fit in their flashy, theatrical aesthetic: "(Feel So...) Galaxy Birth" is the Offspring gone disco, at least until the "Sympathy For The Devil" "woo-hoos" close it out. "Stardust Stardust Stardust" is half surf, half straight up, almost Stonsey rock 'n' roll, like if Silverhead were more concerned with space exploration than matters of the flesh. A New York Dolls influence makes a welcome, if not exactly surprising, appearance in "Glam Razor Shock." So tight is the band's execution that the cornucopia of styles and juxtapositions never draws attention to itself.

Outside of knowing how to pitch a hook, it sounds like Lucy and the Lipstix had as much fun screwing around in the studio as they did getting their shtick together. "Zero Gravity" is a mish mash of surf, power pop, cock rock, vocoder, So-Cal punk, and, uh, circus music, all squished together in a happy mess. "惑星スパイラル" ("Planet Spiral") starts off with a regal Queen by way of Ziggy Stardust pop-n-circumstance opening that the band couldn't possibly do live. In fact, for what's essentially a glam punk band, there's quite a bit of classic, old school Majesty Of Rock on display. Quite a feat for an indie band on their first release.

All the above comparison are merited, but ultimately, the band owes the biggest debt to Zolar X, a California psych glam space pop band from the mid 70s that was hopelessly obscure until Alternative Tentacles reissued their catalog a few years ago. They share that band's post-Bowie alien glamor, as well as their sartorial sense and razor sharp pop hooks. Which is not to call the band derivative, although that criticism isn't totally out of bounds. Not out of bounds, but a bit irrelevant: the band might not be the next Radiohead, but they are the next CD to dominate the iPod of yours truly for the last week, and a stronger recommendation is hard to imagine.

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Available at Amazon Japan