On their debut album, Lupine Howl toss the psychedelic, bluesy jams of The Black Crowes and The Verve in a rocket ship and shoot them to another solar system with Radiohead-like, otherworldly fuel. The band, comprised of three ex-Spiritualized members, sustains the celestial, acid-soaked seasonings of their former band, but inject more erotic energy. Ass-kicking rockers like “Vaporizer,” “125” and “The Jam That Ate Itself” sonically plow through the universe, while most of the album takes weightless journeys through places like a cosmic “Carnival” and post-apocalyptic “Lonely Roads.” Sean Cook’s narration of these trippy voyages is usually raspy and intimate (in fact he’s a dead ringer for Donnie Vie of the Psychedelic Glam Metal band Enuff Z’Nuff who had their biggest success in the late 80s, but are still together), but occasionally he sounds like he’s announcing intentions like “Gonna find me a UFO and get the fuck out of here” (“The Jam That Ate Itself”) through a megaphone while in orbit. Ironically, the only song with a terrestrial feel is “Planet X.” Its inventive use of water splashing for rhythmic purposes and tribal mystique suggest that the planet in question is Earth. With a mix of 7-10 minute excursions that effortlessly guide you through interplanetary territory, and briefer blasts from outer space The Carnivorous Lunar Activities of… is a mind-blowing experience.

- Dave Powers
(As posted 9/6/01 on 3wk.com)