>It’s the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin‘s birth. His theory is being debated as furiously now as it has ever been – perhaps even more so. Most people broadly accept evolution as a sound explanation for life’s progress – it’s just that the crazed and dissenting minority are more tooth-rattlingly, mouth-foamingly vocal than ever.

What I enjoy hearing the most is not the mentally disturbed rantings of Creationists, but those who are trying to reconcile their centuries-old religions with a 150-year old scientific theory, a bit like how David Bowie jumped on the Drum ‘n’ Bass bandwagon in the mid 90’s. Hilariously, the Vatican claim that St Augustine and St Thomas Aquinas actually got there first, and so if you think about it, evolution is actually all to do with God, yeah?

People love clinging onto their beliefs, especially ones that are specifically meaningful to them alone. Music means different things to different people, and rabid followers of bands are particularly befuddled individuals. I was once stuck on a ferry to Belgium with, apparently, the Queen fanclub, and they all had matching double-denim jackets ‘n’ jeans with Queen badges and patches all over them. They looked like particularly grumpy, beardy children’s entertainers and/or real ale fanatics.

You can be a crap band, but summon emotions way beyond the feasible. Today’s New Band, From Saturn, definitely aren’t crap, but may eventually conjure similarly fanatical tendencies. They’re from Sweden – which bands aren’t these days? – and make songs that sound as if they’ve been recorded in the bottom of a well filled with dry ice and guitar effect pedals.

Sometimes smashes softly, like the dense mist at the foot of a waterfall, and is appropriately welcoming, calming and dangerous all at once. There is so much guitar fuzz in the song that it even seems to have leeched into the vocals’ nihilistic drone. Buddies is hyped on uppers and, peering through a woozy fug, lurches forward, having too good a night for its own well being.

From Saturn have found what they like – fuzz, echo and wispy confusion – and they pound each song into submission with their ideals. The songs bend to their will, and not the other way around. I’m not sure if there’s a religious parallel to be drawn here or not. I am sure that you should listen to their songs, right here.