Kingsbury Manx are aliens having taken up human form in North Carolina, close but far enough away from Langley so as not to arouse suspicion. Their decision to pose as a rock band may prove to be their undoing as an intergalactic menace, but overall their failure is our good fortune. Posing as a rock band seemed like a good idea after everything they'd heard about "earth groupies." The tactic was approved by the high council, but to insure that the band maintain a suitably obscure below-the-radar indie presence, they were allotted only one earth album from the past five decades to consume, process and synthesize into the musical diversionary smokescreen of their mission.

From the 60's a copy of The Kinks languid and talkative Village Green Preservation Society - their leader Dibalt Yat assumed the name Bill Taylor and carefully studied the photo of Ray Davies that came with the material. From the 70s the self-titled debut of Happy The Man - though a bit technically challenging the alien missionaries gleaned as much as possible from the instrumentation. From the 80 it was The Chills' Submarine Bells - Next to the Kinks this one blared through the craft the most frequently accompanied by unauthorized rationing of their modest supply of cronad nectar. From the Nineties they were furnished R.E.M.'s Automatic For The People and just before departure mission coordinator Fark Jemble handed them a copy of Augie March's Strange Bird and bid them farewell. Strangely the space capsule discography contained nothing from the Beatles or early Genesis - most puzzling?

A soft landing in an inlet marsh, a quick human transformation and one last rehearsal and the interplanetary coup was in motion. To maintain the necessary low-profile nature of their endeavors they recorded music with an inescapable Brit/Aussie sound which was released by Overcoat Recordings in 2000, Kingsbury Manx (Manx owing to a outer space typo) were delighted by the relative failure of their eponymous debut, their plan to record plaintive Brit-flavored mood rock on a label and in an area accustomed to alt-counry acts was working like a charm, allowing them to make frequent forays back and forth to Langley without raising an eyebrow. The first sign of trouble on the horizon began when critics began to take notice of this anachronistic anomaly of a band once Dibalt and the rest of the Spabs got a taste of earthly praise the mission was in serious jeopardy.

Yet with supplies of cronad nectar running low the Spab four focused their efforts on the mission at hand - deciphering code and searching for vulnerabilities in the digital fabric of this strange new environment. They recorded several more albums and to justify their frequent travel even toured with Elliot Smith, but the jig was really up when they were noticed by Wilco keyboardist Mike Jorgenson. Not only did he produce The Fast Rise and Fall of the South for new alt-country label Yep Roc, but plans are now in the works for the not-so-obscure Kingsbury Manx to tour with Wilco. Good news for us earthlings as the plan to overthrow our planet to make room for more space has been scrapped in favor of taking a shot at the rock and roll good life. Once again Wilco saves the world.

The Fast Rise and Fall is organically constructed largely of acoustic guitar and piano and though the arrangements are spare there is a rich full feel to most all of the 13 tracks. There is a definite homogeneity to the record as a whole, but each song has a unique and strong hook sometimes like recent Elbow. Mostly though, they sound like the great down under wonders the Chills with a definite Ray Davies vocal delivery which morphs to Stephen Malkmus at times. And I would hazard a sizable wager that Jorgenson has been listening to Augie March because the his production is festooned with the trademarks of the Chills more contemporary hemisphere mates. As familiar as their sound may be in general there is enough originality in the particulars to overcome the complaint and Taylor is becoming an accomplished lyricist on this their fifth.

The album was released in the fall of 05 and is definitely an autumnal affair. The perfect soundtrack for a rainy afternoon curl-up with a cup of tea and a good book.