The Aliens - Songs In The Key Of Fife

It's a double-edged sword for The Aliens. On the one hand they have a ready-made audience with passionate fans of both the Beta Band and Lone Pigeon embracing their new material, especially given the abrupt discontinuation of Steve Mason's King Biscuit Time. On the other, they have a hell of a lot to live up to, given the groundbreaking nature of their former incarnations.

But as extraterrestrial lifeform John Maclean assures the Skinny, The group isn't just a continuation of former glories. "It feels like a completely different band because it's different personalities, it's a different dynamic coming together and we really are starting from the beginning; we're touring, roadying for ourselves again, not having any money to work with. But as far as what I do in the band it's kind of a continuation, it would be pointless to start again and do something different when I learnt so much about either sampling or working with beats and live instruments, or making videos."

Robin Jones and Gordon Anderson are the other identities that make up the three-headed alien beast. Anderson, who left the Beta Band just after they were signed due to recurring mental health problems, has since gained a near-mythical reputation as Fife's own answer to Daniel Johnston via his brilliant Lone Pigeon albums. "I've known Gordon since he was about 12 or 13" considers John. "We were at school together and me and Gordon met Robin when we were about 17 at Edinburgh Art College, so we've never lost touch. There was always the possibility that we would get together if the situation was right, if we weren't busy with the Beta Band and if he was well enough to work on stuff. So a couple of years ago when we started The Aliens it just seemed right."

A real sense of fun and experimentation comes across on their epic, psychedelic debut opus, Astronomy for Dogs. "Yeah, because we're old friends, we have the same sort of sense of humour so even if we're not making music, even if we're going to buy some fish and chips it usually ends up being a bit of a laugh." With tracks such as I Am The Unknown, there also lies a mystical side, which John attributes to his compadre's spiritual beliefs. "Gordon's an extremely spiritual person. He's got that ability to be uplifting; you can have happiness but tinged with melancholy. He's not a dour person, he gets sad and depressed but he's never miserable and I think that comes across in the music, you get the forlorn love but you also get the joyous celebration of life."

In terms of recording, John reveals that the band applied a cut-up technique. "We start off with Gordon's song, and he'll have probably done a few versions by the time we even hear it. Every song is different but a song like Only Waiting, for instance, Gordon's got a slow version, a fast version, an acoustic guitar version, a piano version. So Robin went away and worked on it and I went away and worked on it, so we had even more versions! Then the three of us tried to play it live so I had the bass, Robin had the drums and Gordon had the guitar and we just laid down a live tape, and then we do overdubs, so eventually you can kind of pick and choose between all the different bits and put them all together and choose the best parts of each version."

Recording secrets revealed, the band also make room for the realisation of guilty pleasures with the crazed dancing to be seen on their videos to Robot Man and The Happy Song, as John admits: "formation dancing was a side we never really got to explore with the Beta Band, so it was nice to eventually do that!"