In 1999, Jason Pierce kicked Sean Cook, Mike Mooney, and Damon Reece out of Spiritualized. Now they have their own band! Lupine Howl, the exiled trio call themselves. And they're not Spiritualized. The Spiritualized these guys were once part of is dead, and no amount of chanting and invoking will ever bring them back. Yeah, I'm over it.

For the still-heartbroken, though, 125 will be like that new stuffed animal you were given as a replacement after your favorite one had finally gone the way of the old Spiritualized line-up: it's aesthetically similar and cleaner, but missing the tender history. And for those who could give a flying, ethereal fuck about Spiritualized, this compilation of Lupine Howl's first few self-released singles will mean even less.

There's nothing here we haven't heard before, from Spiritualized or otherwise. 125 is Lupine Howl doing Primal Scream doing the Stones-- it values rock strut over massive guitars, frantic tambourines, and ambience-setting organs. "Vaporizer" is Brit-boy soul that could very well be the product of the trio sitting around a retro-futuristic table, wondering how to contrive the Motown influence. (Note to the band: Cut it out already with the polyrhythmic handclaps. You are not the Temptations. None of your papas were rolling stones. Really.)

The record's less rock-oriented, "spacier" moments fare better, but that's because Lupine Howl-- and this is the important part-- have experience making this kind of music. The aptly-titled, percussionless "Tired" is so dazed and laconic that, when singer Mooney manages to make it through the track without slurring his words about lethargy, it actually seems like a Herculean accomplishment.

Three of the 5½ minutes that comprise "Mexican Cantina" are spent in the irritating ambience of guitar reverb and atonal electronic effects. The vaguely catchy guitar riff that eventually comes around initially shows signs of dragging the song out of its muddy sinkhole. Then it beats itself into the ground by repeating ad nauseam until the track reaches its highly anticipated end.

"Swell" is the shocker here-- it's actually good all the way through! Though it's a bit sprawling and psychedelically extraterrestrial (even featuring a lyric about being "out of this world"), the thick static and haze buzzing under the melody gradually breaks up with gorgeous, sparse guitar bits and keyboard melodies. Here, the band breaks their weightless flow, reminding us just how competent they can be at creating druggy, sloth-rock. But really, there are better reminders around; Lazer Guided Melodies for one.

In the end, 125 shows that Cook, Mooney and Mattock are as technically competent as ever, but without Pierce's songwriting and perfectionist presence, it fails to make any Spiritual-type impact.

-Richard M. Juzwiak