What the hell kind of a name is "Spoozys"? This review will completely dodge that question.

They're a Japanese group, and experience has proven that Japanese groups are all a bit mad, or at least subject to a different set of natural laws than the rest of the musical cosmos. A sort of middle ground between kitschy bubblegum pop (Fantastic Plastic Machine, Pizzicato 5) and garage rock (Thee Michelle Gun Elephant), Spoozys will likely appeal to fans of Apollo 440 or Arling & Cameron's more guitar-centered moments.

If you like to dance, and enjoy a good riff (sampled or otherwise), you're going to enjoy Astral Astronauts. The back of the album lists BPM rates along with the songs -- typically a clear indication that there'll be more than a little toe-tapping going on. Think big guitar riffs, heavy beats and goofy vocals that veer between B-52s-style kookiness ("Then and Now" even cops a chunk of "Planet Claire") and haughty glam-rock pouting. Despite the presence of keyboards and drum machines, Astral Astronauts has the spirit of a rock and roll album; it's bouncy, goofy and spontaneous in a way that electronic music usually isn't. For an album that begins and ends with synthesized speech, Astral Astronauts certainly revels in its human touches.

Expect fun. "Super Discoman," the album's most overt dance track, works the Close Encounters five note signature into its bubbly throb. The title track pairs breakneck beats with garage rock guitars (or guitar samples, though the amount of guitar material makes this seem unlikely) and kooky anthemic vocals. "How Do We Communicate" slips a chunky metal riff into its percussion-heavy maelstrom and will undoubtedly cause dancefloor bedlam. Retro-videogame fans will enjoy the numerous "Space Invaders" noises that have been worked into the Arling & Cameronesque "Russian UFO", while "Tiny Head Creatures" could be Fatboy Slim's "Rockafeller Skank" as reinterpreted by Marc Bolan (complete with a guitar line stolen from Led Zep's "Immigrant Song"). "A-I"'s computerized P-funk action may take you by surprise, too.

Like a lot of goofy, sample-heavy Japanese albums, Astral Astronauts carries a residual "novelty album" taint. Six months down the road, it may be difficult to listen to tunes like "Highway-Hypnosis" without getting an uncomfortable feeling that they've passed their sell-by date and devolved into kitsch. This may be in part because cut-and-paste production wizardry never gets quite the same degree of respect as "traditional" instrumental ability, and the works of so-called "real" musicians (emo bands aside) seem to endure for longer. On the other hand, you'll find more creativity on Astral Astronauts than on the last four Rolling Stones albums...and more fun. It certainly has the potential to be a long-term favorite.

At worst, you'll have a fun and quirky little party album by a band whose name sounds a bit rude and will make all of your friends laugh. That's not such a bad deal, really.