CERTAINLY a band who stand out from the crowd, The Polyphonic Spree.

When they appeared on the music scene last year, instead of the usual band line-up of four frowning blokes wearing black, here were two dozen American hippies in white robes, bashing out epic, feelgood psychedelic tunes laden with harps, strings, brass and quite possibly the kitchen sink.

Looking and sounding more like a particularly lively meeting of a Californian religious cult than a band, they even all managed to fit on the same stage for a memorable Leeds Festival set last summer.

Although it was and remains a fantastically out-of-the-ordinary concept, it does however take more than one great idea to sustain a career, or indeed, a second album.

Underneath all the bells, whistles, tambourine-banging and massed choirs, the wonderfully-named Spree mainman Tim DeLaughter writes songs in a similar vein to cosmic Americana to The Flaming Lips, Mercury Rev and Grandaddy - plus a healthy dash of The Beatles and Brian Wilson.

But, for all their blissed-out optimism and spectacular arrangements, his songs just don't measure up to the ambitious job in hand - and a not-that-great song is still a not-that-great song even when you get two dozen harp-wielding hippies to play it.

The Spree strive to be uplifting, but instead sound like they're trying too hard, as the eight-minute songs fail to win you over. Only the straightforward Hold Me Now approaches being memorable.

Yes, they are a breath of fresh air, and yes, this will be spectacular live, but a genuine feel good hit of the summer this isn't.

Updated: 08:46 Thursday, July 22, 2004