Soft Hearted Scientists - Isabella (Keep Riding The Road To The Sea) (Kung Fu)

Strange one, this. Our review copy doesn't give the original version, so here is an eight-minute psychedelic wonder, radio-edited down to 240 seconds. It's ok: you'd expect the magic to be tamed, but no: here is still a banjo, and here a sea-shanty harmony. Mysterious piano, shiny guitars, the word "cosmos": they're all here.

Sadly, it doesn't add up to much. It might be better unedited, with time to really build, but I suspect all they want is a jokey victoriana atmosphere, and even over four minutes, that palls. When The Coral and The Zutons can serve their psychedelia tight, jumpy and disco-friendly, it's hard to go back to the old flaccid meander.

Maybe it's just that those bands write choruses. Soft Hearted Scientists have yet to play a gig. That's fair enough, but the proverbial live experience might help notch things up a bit. At best, unrealised potential. At worst, boring.