Aliens 263 Earthmen 0

A self-described "puppet pop" band, the Elks Skiffle Group sport a lighter-than-air retro indie pop sound. Adopting the persona of four alien, Gumby-ish puppets — Johnny Casserole, Hoover Constellation, Janice Electrolux, and Roosevelt Elk — the group sweeps across broad swaths of American and British pop history, with an emphasis on '60s retro space pop. The songs have a technicolor postcard charm — cheesy organ, synth strings, clean guitar lines, drum machine grooves, and soft-spoken female melodies faintly reminiscent of Cibo Matto or a soft-edged version of Stereolab. There's no doubt that this is a pure lo-fi pop novelty act — yet the material is listenable, catchy, and cheerfully frivolous. It's hard to resist the catalog of American rock & roll hooks cycling through "Rice Pudding USA," for instance, without breaking into a broad smile. Reportedly, the band has received some notoriety in Japan, where the appetite for sweet-toothed American pop kitsch is huge.