The Omega Band

Who here remembers the Beta Band? They were a novel band of Scots who, after three albums and an excellent collection of EPs (immortalized in the film of High Fidelity), decided to call it quits, citing a lack of success to the level they'd anticipated.

Two of the former members - Robin Jones and John Maclean - along with early Beta Gordon Jones, take the form of The Aliens. With their 2006 EP Alienoid Starmonica and 2007 full-length Astronomy For Dogs, they picked up right were the Betas left off, crafting quirky gems of heavily manipulated pop. For the Starmonica EP, I'll say this - "Hey Leanne" has got to be the best country song about an abductee missing his alien captors that I've ever heard.

As The Aliens prepare to unleash their newest, Luna (September 29 on Pet Rock), I've contracted stuck-in-head syndrome with The Beta Band song, "Dragon." It's a sleepy little gem (and weren't they all?) with a shuffling dub beat from the Betas' second album, Hot Shots II (2002; Astralwerks):



There's no official video available, but seeing as this fan-made one features Spyro, the adorable baby purple video game dragon, getting his groove on, I'd say it's a winner. To whet appetites, here's "Magic Man," the first single from Luna. And Portland bands think they have a monopoly on weirdness: