Advertisements for Target (The retail store - Ed.) conspire to make the mundane and the quotidian look chic, new and happening. The cover art of KBA's new release, Loves a Long Song, calls to mind a Target ad, with pictures of a vase of roses, fans and cheesy Czech Christmas tree ornaments tiling a la Andy Warhol. Just as the Target ads conspire to make ostrich-feather dusters into a boa you'd love to wear while out cruising, King Black Acid takes inspiration from the music of your mama's 8-tracks and makes them new.

With their third album, KBA weaves together electronic/prog rock that at certain moments sound almost poppy. The album's fairly cohesive in concept, although there are one or two tracks that act as the protruding nail -- sure to stick out. The music would be destined for a radio playlist offering if it weren't too quiet, although you might find it while turning the dial at 2:00 or 3:00 a.m. They've been compared to just about every group that's been described as dreamy, hypnotic, psychedelic, druggy, late-night or spacy, but when you hear King Black Acid, you quickly pick up on the Pink Floyd and King Crimson references. Spiritualised seems an almost inevitable comparison as well, especially when listening to "Gentle Collapse". The keyboard noodling in "Butterfly Bomber" is purely '70s rock. Ethereal voices chorusing against a gentle guitar, strummed languidly from miles away, inform "School Blood", the most Floyd-like on the album. This is definitely one of those bands that'd play well in an Amsterdam coffee bar, especially given the lyrics from "Into the Sun" ("I'm too high to leave this couch" sums up the record fairly well). "Gentle Collapse" opens so quietly that you have to stop everything in your immediate environment to hear it. Then you fold into the music as easily as you'd fall into a hay rick -- with its soft synth, ringing chimes and soaring guitars, the song's positively pastoral.

A fan's web page extolled KBA as "defy[ing] categorization", which makes little sense to me, as you can categorise the band very well indeed. They're genre-crossers, but they fuse them masterfully, creating a worthwhile listen.