Psychedelic pop music is indeed alive and well in the early twenty-first century, as proven by the engaging UK quartet Simian. The band was formed during the late 90s while three of its four members (Jason Shaw, James Ford, Alex MacNaughton) were attending college in Manchester. Soon after their initial meeting, the trio moved into an apartment together, and built a home recording studio. There was still a missing piece to the puzzle, which was soon discovered after the trio came across singer-songwriter Simon Lord. Expanding to a quartet, the new Simian line-up began writing a staggering amount of material together, and within a three-month span, they had an album's worth of originals whipped into shape. In 2000 the quartet signed with UK label, Source Records, which resulted in the release of the six-track EP, Watch It Glow. A year later, Simian's debut, Chemistry Is What We Are, was released, that resulted in the band signing a US deal with the Astralwerks label. In 2002, the quartet released an excellent second album, We Are Your Friends. More