Sheiks of Neptune - Astrosurf and Come Drink With the Sheiks

The Sheiks of Neptune are one of the wackiest groups in Vegas, with live shows filled with frantic mania and props galore, as well as some of the best musicians in town. They are also one of the hardest groups to describe. They call themselves "sci-fi drunk surf punk" but that barely touches the surface. Definitely punk-powered but with hints of ska'n'funk, with high energy numbers driven by crazed drum'n'bass rhythms, they also are eclectic as hell, with the two guitars'n'violin intertwining constantly in a Zappa-esque way and goofy vocals with zany, absurdist lyrics on top of it all. Songs about "Plutonium Bombs", "Galactic Gurus of the Robot Graveyard", "Arcade Demon". "Cat Girls From Beta Prime" and "Space Herpes" (to name a few) gives you an idea of their state of mind here (Cole Porter's "Anything Goes" also makes an appearance here in a Star Wars-ian kinda way) and their theme song "The Sheiks of Neptune vs. the Space Squid of Argos" is an absolutely crazed ending to the proceedings.


The madness continues in Come Drink With the Sheiks, with more hard core energy and shouted/screeched vocals mixed with jazzy chords and sudden mellow breaks along with further ska/funk treaties and fusion bizarrities. The lyrical absurdity is abundant with the likes of "Groovy Wormhole", "Unexpected Orbital Interruptions", "Return of the Cat Girls". "Three Sheiks to the Wind" (nice one!) while there's a bit more horror/sci-fi themes here in "Mystery From Beyond the Stars", "Girls In Space" and "To The Moon". The music continues to change from minute-to-minute in a head-spinning way that can be hard to even grasp at a casual listen - hell, the whole package can actually make you ill-at-ease in its relentlessness. But power through it! You'll survive!

One of the more original bands around today - make sure you see their live show (when such a thing can happen again) for the full, insane experience!